Give Me Strength
by xSlythStratasfaction
Summary: It's just a week before Regionals and Blaine is just now coming to terms with his feelings towards Kurt. Does he have the courage to tell Kurt? And does Kurt still like him like that? Companion piece to SYNMTC. Can be read separately too!
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction (formerly known as LadyStrata821)

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the continuation/sequel fic to my other story _Sometimes You Need More Than Courage _(SYNMTC). You can read this without having to read the other fic, if you'd like, but there may be some things from that previous story that will show up in this one (so by suggestion, I recommend reading SYNMTC and then reading this so you won't be confused). Anyways, this takes place a little bit before and during the episode _Original Song_.

* * *

><p>"So how do you think your audition went?"<p>

Kurt looked up at the person who was getting ready to sit down across from him. Blaine set his lunch tray down first before he plopped down in the seat across the table, offering Kurt a genuine smile.

The sweet gesture was enough to make anyone flinch.

It had been a couple of days since the boys' disastrous goodbye in the Dalton parking lot; the two had a little bit of a disagreement over their relationship following a night of exposed secrets and random boundary-pushing comforting. Kurt had wanted Blaine to take a step forward and change their relationship from 'just friends' to 'more than friends.' However a certain someone had other plans and once again pushed his infatuated best friend away.

Just the memory of the fallout in the parking lot made Kurt's stomach turn. Frowning, he pushed part of his lunch out of the way and started to nitpick at his tossed salad.

"Earth to Kurt?"

Glasz met hazel as Kurt looked up and locked his eyes onto Blaine's. The other boy looked downright concerned as he leaned forward a bit into the table, his darkened eyes watching his friend closely.

"You okay today?"

It took every shred of power in his body for Kurt to hold himself back from throwing his diet soda into Blaine's face. Of course he was not okay! He had thrown his heart out on the line months ago and was still sitting on the sidelines waiting for Blaine to pick up the ball and run with it.

_Oh, a football reference… gotta stop watching games with dad and Finn_, Kurt's mind scolded as he shot a nasty glare to Blaine.

Unfortunately, the oblivious boy had glanced down at his tray to pop a bite of mashed potatoes into his mouth. After Kurt's glare had faded from his face, Blaine looked up and offered his friend a cheesy closed mouth smile.

Kurt swooned, despite the fact that he wanted to throttle his crush with his bare hands. _Damn that Blaine and his dashing charm._

"If it means anything," Blaine said once he swallowed his food, "I thought you sounded amazing back there. The council would be foolish not to give you a solo for Regionals."

A blush crept across Kurt's face as he glanced down at his salad. He hoped that what Blaine had said rang true; he sang his little heart out in the hall just minutes before and hoped that his audition number wasn't showy enough to cost him a solo at Regionals. Then again, perhaps Mika's _Grace Kelly_ was a little bit too showy… but he kicked that song's ass straight out of the park – _whoa, another dad/Finn like reference_ – so he had to have at least scored some sort of solo for the competition.

"I thought you sounded pretty fantastic as well," Kurt said as he took a bite of his salad. He watched as Blaine's face brightened up with a puppy-like grin; he always took compliments well. Blaine Anderson was like a sponge: give him praise and he'll absorb it up quick.

"Thanks. I had originally thought about singing something newer, something Top 40ish, but then I remembered how well received _Hey Soul Sister_ was, so I had to go with another Train song!"

Kurt let his mind flashback to about a half hour previously when Blaine had stood in front of his fellow Warblers, belting out _Calling All Angels _as he danced around the room. Every time the boy performed, Kurt was entranced. He could watch Blaine sing and perform numbers from the phone book and still be entertained; the guy was just that good.

Hell, even though Kurt was really pissed off with Blaine at the moment, he couldn't keep his eyes off the boy as he auditioned for a solo. It was hard to even act mad at his crush; Blaine was just so charismatic and stuff that sometimes, when you just looked at him, you fell out of anger.

The only other times Kurt could remember being mad at the boy was during Valentines following the Jeremiah fiasco and during the Blainchel/Raine alcohol induced dating extravaganza. It took him a few more days than usual to really make up with Blaine following the Rachel ordeal, but after they apologized, they hopped right back into the swing of things and became besties again.

And now here they were once more: chatting it up like the weekend never happened, like the two of them hadn't spent all Friday night curled up in each other's warmth.

It was so odd to Kurt that they could keep doing this: being friends with no boundaries. He wanted more; he wanted to throw the boundaries out the window and be with Blaine in every single way he could imagine - well, every single _PG_ way he could imagine. He didn't want to beat around the bush and worry about what lines he was crossing when the two of them brushed up against each other in the hall or when they batted eyes at each other in Warblers practice.

He just wanted _Blaine_… but Blaine didn't want him.

And that's why they were sitting across from each other at the lunch table, alone. Their usual lunch mates were still in the Warblers' rehearsal hall debating over who would get solos for Regionals. Blaine, Kurt, and the rest of the Warblers who weren't on the council had to exit for lunch and to give their councilmen some time to decide who was going to be the stage hog for Regionals.

Kurt hoped it wasn't going to be Blaine, as horrible as that sounded.

Blaine was like the Rachel Berry of the Warblers, the Jesse St. James of Dalton Academy. The Warblers respected him as if he were some sort of musical god that fell from the sky and bestowed upon them charisma, sex appeal, and a great voice. Sure, Blaine had all those fabulous qualities about him, but he wasn't the only talent in the glee club. Kurt had heard plenty of the other guys sing solo and he wondered what in the world the council was thinking when they passed up a few of the other guys to give Blaine a certain solo, especially on songs that Blaine's voice really didn't work on.

As his mind clouded with thoughts of his fellow Warblers' voices, Kurt found himself torn away from his daydreaming when he heard Blaine snapping his fingers.

"Did you hear what I said? You sort of spaced out a little bit."

Kurt flushed and took a quick bite of his salad, letting his eyes drop to the table. "Umm, yeah. Sorry about that, I was just thinking about the auditions. What were you saying?"

Blaine smiled, "I was just asking if you thought that me picking Train to sing again was a good job? Like I said earlier, I usually go for more recent Top 40 hits and-"

"That song was in the Top 40 years ago, so it counts." Kurt said as he stabbed at another piece of lettuce, "Plus, you've done older songs before: remember Valentine's Day and the Gap? Or the Lonely Hearts Club dinner at Breadstix?"

He couldn't help but notice the way Blaine's face fell when he mentioned that dreaded holiday of love. Kurt knew the subject was a sensitive one towards the other teen, but he thought that Blaine should just get over and put the past behind him. Kurt had… or at least he had tried to. Sometimes though, he would have a nightmare of Blaine walking off hand in hand with that grungy Jeremiah as he stood in the shadows teary-eyed.

It was a pretty horrid nightmare, to be honest.

Sighing, Kurt leaned his head on his hand, "Sorry. I didn't mean to bring that drama back up."

The dark haired boy across from him smiled weakly, "No, it's alright. Don't worry about it; you're right though, those songs I sang then weren't recent Top 40 hits either."

Both boys stayed silent after that. Kurt lazily picked at his salad, much too nervous to eat anything since his stomach was still in anxious knots; Blaine shoveled the rest of his lunch in his mouth, as if he weren't nervous at all. After a few minutes of everything being quiet, Kurt reached into his bag and pulled out his phone: it was almost time for their next class to start.

"I didn't realize time flew by that fast," he whispered as he stuffed his phone back into his bag pocket.

Blaine glanced up at him, "Is it almost time for class to start again?" He watched as the Kurt nodded and he quickly finished off his glass of iced tea before he politely dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "So I suppose I'll see you at Warblers practice then?"

Kurt nodded as he stood up from the table, tray in hand. "Yeah, I think I may go hang out in the library after school is over so that I can get my homework done before I have to go back to Lima. If you… umm… want to tag along, you are more than welcome."

"I'd love to."

"Great, well then I'll see you soon!"

"See ya!"

Kurt stalked out of the dining room like a bat out of hell. He couldn't believe himself. He just sat there and invited Blaine to join him in study hall after school, even though he was still clearly trying to avoid the boy. He also couldn't believe how pathetic he actually was; he wanted to push Blaine away more than anything and yet he couldn't even place a distance between them. He was so hopelessly in love.

_It was so unfair!_

* * *

><p>"Mind if I sit here?"<p>

Classes at Dalton had been over for at least an hour. Kurt was sitting in the library putting the finishing touches on a History worksheet when Blaine had finally decided to make his presence known.

"I thought you weren't coming," Kurt said softly as he scribbled down another answer about Cleopatra and Egypt. "Classes have been over for an hour."

"I got sidetracked," Blaine explained as he took the seat across from Kurt. He reached into his bag and pulled out a couple of large textbooks before setting them gently down on the table. "I had to stay after class in Literature to talk about my grade on the recent Shakespeare exam."

"You mean the one that we spent _hours_ studying for in this very library?"

"The very one… I, uh… did so well on it that Professor Milton asked me to tutor another one of the students. I had to decline, I mean, I wouldn't have passed that blasted test if it weren't for you and your ridiculous amount of Shakespearean knowledge!"

Kurt blushed and ducked his head, jotting down another answer on his worksheet. "Pssh, shut up! You could've passed that exam without studying easily! You're so smart, Blaine. You have some of the best grades here at Dalton; I could only wish to have grades like yours!"

"But you do! You've got a great GPA and academic standing here and you've only been here for a few months."

"The workload here is so much harder than it was at McKinley. Granted I wasn't being challenged academically there at all, but when I got here, I thought I was going to drown underneath all this work they give you guys. If I weren't for you, I'd-"

Kurt trailed off then as he found himself staring at a very forlorn looking Blaine. The other boy was leaning against the desk, his hazel eyes flashing with some emotion that Kurt just couldn't read. Frowning, Kurt swallowed the lump of nerves that formed in his throat and raised an eyebrow.

"Everything okay, Blaine? Is there something on my face?"

That line alone snapped the distracted teen from his thoughts and he glanced down at his stack of books, "Everything is fine," Blaine started, "I was just remembering how nasty the workload was when I first got here."

Then the memories came pouring in. Flashes of Friday evening and the things that had been said and done that night took over both boys' minds as they sat there in the silent library.

_"I'm such a coward."_

_**"For what it's worth, Blaine, I think you are the bravest person I know."**_

_"Thanks… for umm, staying with me last night, Kurt."_

_**"I'd stay forever if you needed me."**_

Neither of them bothered to speak as their minds replayed the scenes of the weekend over and over in their heads. Kurt went back to working on his worksheet, absentmindedly chewing on the end of his pencil as he stared blankly at his History text. Across from him, Blaine opened up his Trigonometry book to a random page and gazed at the numbers that were printed on the paper.

Neither boy spoke for the rest of the hour as they sat there in that quiet library. They both stayed locked in their own little sheltered world away from one another, even though they were so close to each other psychially.

* * *

><p>"It's almost time to go."<p>

Blaine's voice broke Kurt from his reverie and the blue eyed boy nodded, putting his incomplete worksheets in a folder as he began to gather up his things. From the other side of the desk, Blaine was closing up his books and stuffing them into his messenger bag. Both boys finished cleaning up their area and then stopped to look at one another.

"Walk with me to practice?"

"Sure."

Kurt walked alongside his friend to the Warblers' rehearsal hall. As they walked, Kurt found himself growing lightheaded from all the exertion his bodily organs were going through. His heart was pounding wildly from being so close to Blaine (as it always did), his stomach was flipping something fierce due to his nervousness of the Regionals solo outcome, and his brain throbbed from the assault his memories had thrown at it. If he didn't faint in practice, it would be a miracle!

"You alright? You look a little pale."

Glasz eyes shot up and then flicked back down as Kurt stopped his stride and looked at his best friend. Blaine was watching him curiously, one thick brow cocked upwards as he stared.

"Are you sure you're well enough to go to practice? You look ill."

"I'm just nervous, that's all." Kurt waved a hand to brush off any sort of concern his crush had for him. "I am freaking out over this whole solo thing. I just want a competition solo so bad… I've wanted one since I joined glee club a year ago and have yet to get one. New Directions never bothered with me, so I'm hoping the Warblers would at least give me a try."

Blaine smiled as he started walking again, Kurt rambling away at his side. "I'm sure you'll get a solo; you have an amazing voice, like I've said time and time again. Plus, the council will take into consideration how well you sang with me when we dueted for _Animal_ just a few weeks ago. They know your voice. I'm sure you'll do fine!"

The two boys finally reached the rehearsal hall and stepped inside together, receiving cheesy grins from their choir mates. Wes, David, and Thad nodded at them as they walked past the council table and the two juniors sat down next to each other in their usual seats on one of the couches.

"Well now that everyone is here," Wes started as he tapped his gavel down hard onto the table, "practice may begin."

* * *

><p>The silence was unbearable.<p>

Kurt sat in his seat with his right leg bouncing wildly up and down as his nerves fully took over his form. Usually he wasn't that nervous over something as trivial as a solo – as seen during his first audition tryout with _Don't Cry for Me Argentina_; he barely batted an eyelash while Jeff and Nick sat next to him sweating bullets – however, this time Kurt knew that he was going against many other stunning voices and that virtually anyone could be chosen for a solo.

Wes rambled on and on about their judging process for the auditions and how he and the other councilmen were proud of their Warblers for stepping up and trying out for solos. Overall, several boys had sang during their last meeting and a couple of those boys would be the lucky ones to get solos for the two mystery numbers that the council had selected for competition.

Kurt hoped he was one of the two.

Finally, after minutes of cruel torture, David pulled a sheet of paper out of a manila folder and handed it to Thad. Thad looked over it, nodded, and then handed the paper to Wes. The Asian boy smiled at whatever was written on the thing in his hands and he smacked his gavel to the table.

"While everyone's auditions were extraordinary, we were finally able to make a decision. You fellows didn't make it easy on us, that's for sure. Anyway, let us get down to business. Thad, if you will…"

Thad stood up and looked out amongst the sea of navy and red blazers. Anxious eyes stared back up at him as he cleared his throat. "We've decided to go with Junior member-"

At this, the five junior Warblers who auditioned – Blaine, Kurt, Jeff, Nick, and Trent – leaned forward excitedly in their seats. Blaine reached over and gripped Kurt's hand, causing the younger boy to blush fiercely as he gazed over at his friend. Blaine's golden eyes were sparkling in a smile and Kurt returned the gentle grin along with a squeeze to his friend's hand.

"-Blaine Anderson!"

Kurt's grip on Blaine's hand slackened a bit. He cocked an eyebrow at the councilmen and opened his mouth quickly, "What about the other solo? We're supposed to perform two songs, am I correct?"

Thad nodded, "Yes, we are performing two songs. The council has decided to go with a medley of Pink songs for Regionals and we've decided that Blaine would be the best lead for _both_ of those songs."

The hand that folded within Blaine's slowly went limp and then slid from his grasp. Blaine's eyes widened as he looked at the council; part of him wanted to protest and the other part wanted to cheer in excitement. Never the one to be rude, the dark haired boy slowly stood to a round of applause – even Kurt was clapping, though his hands weren't coming together as quickly or as enthusiastically as the others – and Blaine nodded to each and every one of his glee mates in thanks.

"Thank you so much for this honor. I am humbled that you have chosen me to lead the Warblers during Regionals."

"You blew us away with your audition, Mr. Anderson," Wes said, formalities in place since they were at a meeting. Despite their friendship, it would've been called favoritism if he would've called Blaine by any other name. "Your voice best suits the Pink songs we have chosen for the competition. While everyone else's auditions were stunning, we did not feel as if their vocals would match Pink's as well as yours."

Kurt rolled his eyes and leaned back against the couch – he had been sitting ramrod straight earlier from nervousness; a sigh escaped from his lips. Next to him, Blaine sat back down and shot him a look that was full of apology. Unfortunately, Kurt's attentions were everywhere but on Blaine. He couldn't even face him; he was mad as well as embarrassed that he once again failed to win a solo for a competition.

The faster Warbler practice ended, the quicker Kurt could leave and throw a bitch fit. He felt he deserved it.

* * *

><p>The rest of practice went swimmingly for the rest of the Warblers. Wes passed out some songs to help them warm-up and then he gave them their copies of their parts for the Pink medley. Kurt stared down at his soprano part in annoyance. He didn't know how long he could manage singing <em>jengas<em>, _dings_, _zings_, _bops_, and what nots. He hated being background; he was meant to stand out.

If his voice was so spectacular (so rare that Wes almost cried the first time he heard it, according to Jeff), then why was it that no one wanted to feature it? The farthest he got with a solo in this group was when he and Blaine dueted to _Animal_ and even then Kurt thought they were given that duet by the council because Wes and David were wanting Blaine to 'take a bite of Kurt's heart' or something along those lines.

Other than that, he was just background. Blaine was the star… and even though watching Blaine perform was something that Kurt loved to do, he found himself growing tired. Growing tired of being in the shadows, tired of seeing Blaine in the spotlight, tired of being ignored… by both the Warblers _and_ Blaine.

Sure, it was probably his inner drama queen diva that was making him feel this way, but he couldn't help it. Grumbling under his breath, he finished up the rest of Warbler practice and then practically jogged out of the rehearsal hall when Wes dismissed them with a thud of the gavel. Luckily for Kurt, they had asked Blaine to stay behind for a discussion, so he was able to skip out without the golden eyed boy cornering him.

They'd talk sooner or later. _Later rather than sooner probably._

With a sigh, Kurt climbed into his SUV and started on his way back to Lima. As he drove, he wondered if the two hour drive – to and from - was even worth it anymore… and these thoughts would stay with him all the way down the interstate from Westerville to Lima.

* * *

><p><span>AN: Hope you like this so far! I'm trying to split my time between updating this and updating _Confused_, so don't be surprised if you see this one updated one day and the other story updated a day later! I really, really appreciate reviews and I love my reviewers! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the continuation/sequel fic to my other story _Sometimes You Need More Than Courage _(SYNMTC). You can read this without having to read the other fic, if you'd like, but there may be some things from that previous story that will show up in this one (so by suggestion, I recommend reading SYNMTC and then reading this so you won't be confused). Anyways, this takes place a little bit before and during the episode _Original Song_.

* * *

><p>"Blaine, the council would like to congratulate you on being this year's Regionals soloist!"<p>

Wes thrust his hand out and smiled as the junior Warbler shook it. The other two councilmen, David and Thad, patted their friend on the back. The four boys then stepped back, each of them eyeing the other as they stood in silence in the rehearsal hall.

Finally someone spoke… it was Blaine.

"Why did you guys pick me?"

David raised a brow, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the questioning boy. "I thought we said that we found you to have the closest vocal range to Pink as compared to the others who auditioned."

"Well, yeah-" Blaine started, but then quieted down when he noticed Wes staring at him curiously.

The Asian boy smirked and turned away, walking across the room to gather up his things from the council desk. "Is this about Kurt, Blaine?"

No one said a thing as they glanced at their golden boy. Blaine just stood with his hands behind his back, eyes downcast to the floor. Noticing how quiet their star singer had gotten, the three councilmen shared a knowing look and smiled at one another.

David spoke up, "Listen Anderson, we love Kurt's voice just as much as the rest of the group does – probably no more so than you, but whatever –" Blaine shot him a look. "But Kurt's voice doesn't fit Pink's vocal range, especially for those particular numbers we chose. So, we went with you. Your voice is perfect for a Pink medley, that's why you were chosen."

"Personally, I think your voice is better than Pink's," Thad chimed in. He was practically Blaine's number one fan – though Kurt would probably beg to differ – and whenever he could toss out a compliment towards his friend, he did.

Wes rolled his eyes at Thad's comment and stared at his hazel eyed friend, "Don't get yourself down because we didn't pick Kurt for a solo, Blaine. He understands the mechanics of this group and so do you. Remember? You were the one who had to explain to him how the Warblers work and while it did take him time to get used to all this, he knows that his chance at getting a solo is just as much as anyone else's in here-"

Blaine found himself drifting off as Wes continued to ramble. He knew what the senior was saying was true, but part of him felt terrible for getting both solos when he knew how much Kurt wanted a chance to shine at the competition… if not for himself, than to show his old glee club that he had a voice that was appreciated within the Warblers.

Blaine knew that Kurt loved the New Directions club more than anything, but he also knew that the boy felt neglected there when he was passed up on many opportunities to show off his voice. His angelic soprano rivaled any girl's voice and the amount of range that Kurt carried was a spectacular sight to behold. But now, here they were: the Warblers were just like New Directions – keeping a caged songbird… well, _caged_.

As Wes continued to ramble, Blaine felt himself wage yet another inner battle with himself over the options he had to fix this predicament. He could decline the opportunity to sing both solos for Regionals and thereby get himself demoted from soloist to be-bopping back-up singer… or he could suck it up and do what he had to do: _sing lead_.

The more and more he thought about it, the more and more a tiny part of him got annoyed.

He had won that audition fair and square. Sure, Kurt had rocked his audition out of the park and so did the other guys, but it was _Blaine_ who the council deemed perfect to take on the lead solos of their awesome medley. Yeah, so what that _Blaine_ had been the soloist on numerous occasions, but that wasn't his fault… the council picked the set lists and the soloists and just because they liked his voice didn't mean that everyone else should hate him for it.

With a confident sigh, Blaine looked up at Wes and noticed that the upperclassman was watching him carefully. He must've stopped talking ages ago.

"Were you even listening to me?" Wes asked, tilting his head to the side.

Blaine nodded and grabbed up his things, turning to head out the double doors, "Yes, I heard you, Wesley. I know that I earned those solos and I'm not going to fight you guys over it. I'm truly honored that you all chose me yet again to lead the Warblers and I promise I won't make you regret that choice either."

"Awesome," Thad breathed as he also started out of the room.

The council grinned and nodded at each other as they followed Blaine out of the rehearsal hall.

"See you at dinner, Anderson." David called over his shoulder as he, Wes, and Thad went on their way to their dorms. Blaine gave them a curt nod and a wave as he watched them head off down the hall. After a few moments, he whipped out his cell phone and typed out a text to Kurt.

_Call me sometime, ok? I'd like to talk to you. –B_

* * *

><p>By the time Kurt Hummel's SUV pulled into his driveway, the teenager was absolutely exhausted.<p>

The skies had darkened considerably as he drove through Ohio from his usual daily grind of driving from Westerville to Lima. Warbler practice had lasted long that evening and by the time he fled Dalton, it was nearing 6 PM. It was nearly eight o' clock when Kurt finally trudged into his house and was hit with the smell of something heavenly.

Dinner!

Kurt quickly slid out of his coat and scarf and draped the two over the coat rack that sat next to the door; he didn't give a care in the world that he dropped his messenger bag on the couch as he walked towards the kitchen. He was just too tired to even bother running upstairs and put his stuff away or to even change. He just wanted to eat, call Mercedes, and go to bed.

"Long day at school, sweetheart?"

A kiss was pressed to his temple as Carole crept up behind him and stood on her tippy toes. Kurt nodded into her kiss and gave her a half-hug as he strolled up to the steaming pot of pasta that sat on the stove. Carole had made her famous chicken fettuccini alfredo (something of which Kurt loved because while most alfredos were silent creamy sauced killers – Carole's was deceptively healthy with its layers of veggies and light cheese sauce). Scooping up a moderate sized amount of food, Kurt filled his plate and then added a healthy tossed salad and a breadstick before he dashed to the table.

He almost choked when he saw his stepmother take a seat across from him, her plate also filled with food.

"You haven't eaten yet?" The blue eyed teen asked as he dressed his salad with a light vinaigrette. Carole shook her head negatively and smiled when he offered her the bottle of salad dressing.

"Well, no. I was hoping to have the family eat together tonight, but Burt and Finn were grumbling about a basketball game and I knew you had Warbler practice tonight, so I let them eat early and I decided to wait until you got home."

Just the sweet motherly gesture of eating with him made Kurt's heart flutter within his chest. He would've teared up, but he held his emotions back and offered his stepmom a genuine, heartfelt smile.

"Thank you, Carole. I really appreciate you doing this… you really didn't have to though. I don't mind eating alone; I got used to it before you and Finn came along and dad had to work late hours at the shop and-"

He stopped when he felt a soft, gentle touch hover on his hand. Carole's fingers laced around his larger palm and she smiled at him. "Don't worry about this, sweetie. I'd prefer if you had someone to eat with anyways. Eating alone isn't very fun and plus, I imagine you'd like someone to talk to… you had auditions for solos today, didn't you?"

Kurt gulped, instantly remembering the events prior to him coming home. Instinctively, he reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out his cellphone, coming face to face with a text message from Blaine.

_Call me sometime, ok? I'd like to talk to you. –B_

He wanted to ignore the text, but he knew that it would have been in bad taste to have been mad at the other boy for something he couldn't control. So what if the council was in love with Blaine? He couldn't help it; he was just too lovable.

_Of course he's lovable…_

Kurt shook the thoughts from his mind and pocketed his phone; he'd just have to text Blaine later or something… after he called Mercedes, of course.

"How's the pasta?"

Kurt frowned as he looked back up from his plate; Carole was watching him, her kind eyes staring at him with question. He smiled back at her weakly before answering.

"This food is delicious, Carole. Thank you." He poked his fork into his salad and then bit his lip, "You asked about the solos?"

"Yeah, how did that go? Did you get one?"

"No."

Carole looked shocked. She dropped her fork down onto her plate and leaned forward in her seat, elbows propped up, her chin now resting in the palms of her hands. "You didn't?"

"No," Kurt started, taking a sip of ice water. "They chose Blaine to sing lead for the songs we're going to do for Regionals. The council said that they found his voice to be closer to the vocal range they were going for with the medley they had planned. I guess me and the other guys really didn't have a chance."

He almost shocked himself with the amount of bitterness that came out as he somewhat laughed. _Whoa, jealous much?_

"Well that's a shame, honey. You have a beautiful voice and I bet your audition was stunning." Carole beamed at her stepson as he rolled his eyes and blushed from her compliments. "Maybe next time, right?"

"Of course," Kurt smiled, "I'm definitely getting a solo next time. I don't care if I have to jump up on furniture to get them to notice me."

And then the teen found himself explaining to Carole how much Blaine Anderson ("He's such a charming young man, Kurt! How funny that he likes to jump on furniture! It's always the quiet ones!") liked to be theatrical when he sang.

* * *

><p>Blaine laid on his bed, his arm outstretched as he scribbled down some answers to his trigonometry homework.<p>

Kurt still hadn't called him.

Warbler practice had been over for hours now and Blaine imagined that his best friend had been home for at least an hour or so; and yet, Kurt hadn't even bothered to call him or even text him and let him know that he got home alright.

Part of Blaine wanted to call up his friend, but the other part of him said to give the boy some time. Kurt would call when he wanted; the boy did have homework and chores and all that other crap to deal with when he got home, plus he looked absolutely exhausted earlier on that evening before practice, so he was probably asleep.

But deep down, there was something inside Blaine that wanted to call up Kurt just so that he could hear his voice, hear him breathe… just to hear _something_.

And it was these thoughts that creeped him out.

Groaning, the curly haired teen tossed his pencil into his book and slammed the offending object shut before he rolled onto his back and ran his fingers through his hair. He had spent all evening thinking about Kurt: from his eyes, to his smile, to his hair, to his voice. It seemed like his best friend had invaded his thoughts like a parasite bent on taking over his every soul.

And part of him didn't mind giving up his soul to that parasite either.

_OH MY GOD, JUST STOP IT WITH THESE THOUGHTS ALREADY!_

Blaine smacked himself in the head and grabbed a pillow, smothering it over his face in fury. He did not like Kurt like that. They were just friends and that's all they'd ever be. Just friends.

That's all.

With a grunt of annoyance, Blaine rolled off of his bed and padded across the room towards his desk. He plopped down into the chair and opened up his laptop, logging onto Facebook in the process. Imagine his surprise when he saw that only minutes before, Kurt had updated his Facebook status.

**Kurt Hummel** is seriously thankful for lady chats with **Mercedes Jones**.

**Mercedes Jones** likes this.

"He called Mercedes, but he didn't call me?" Blaine wondered aloud as he scrolled through Kurt's Facebook posts. The boy barely logged on as it was, but it seemed as if he was busy with activity over the last few hours. He left comments on some of the New Directions members' walls as well as played a few rounds of Family Feud. But not once did he bother to text Blaine.

It was during the midst of Blaine's Facebook creeping that he heard his phone buzz from across the room.

_Sorry it took me so long to text you back. Kinda busy. Coffee tomorrow? –K_

Despite the fact that he was kind of angry that Kurt left him hanging, Blaine found himself grinning as he punched back a response to his friend.

_It's okay. We can talk over lattes. The Bean or the Whip? –B_

He didn't mind driving to Lima to get some coffee; the Lima Bean had some of the best coffee around (and that was competing with other well-known coffee shops throughout Ohio), but sometimes the boys met up for coffee at the Westerville Whip, which was not too far down the road from Dalton and more convenient for Blaine. The coffee there wasn't as great as it was at the Bean, but it was good enough.

_The Whip would be fine. No need for you to drive all the way up here when I can meet you there. We met at the Bean last time anyways! –K_

_So, 7ish then? Is that alright? –B_

_No prob! I'll see you at 7 then! I'm going to bed now; early start tomorrow! G'night Blaine! –K_

_Goodnight, Kurt. Sweet dreams. –B_

Blaine set his phone down on the table and smiled. He didn't know why he was so excited to be meeting up with Kurt over coffee tomorrow – they had done this many times before – but just the thought of seeing Kurt in the morning made him feel very happy.

_It's because you like him._

Rolling his eyes, Blaine walked back over to his bed and plopped down on it, blatantly ignoring his mind's lewd comments as he sat down to finish up his Trig homework. He wasn't going to start up that crap with his thoughts again…

* * *

><p>Kurt frowned as he set his phone down on his nightstand.<p>

He pulled his duvet over his head and leaned back against the pillows, slowly allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness of his bedroom.

Why did he just make plans with Blaine to have coffee?

He had just spent an hour talking to his best friend – well, his _female_ best friend – on the phone about the very same boy he made coffee plans with… and he spent a good amount of their phone conversation asking Mercedes _how_ he could slowly distance himself from Blaine because being around him so much was breaking his heart.

And then he went and made plans with the kid anyways, completely ignoring what Mercedes had told him to do…

* * *

><p>"<em>Mercedes, I don't know what to do!"<em>

"_Kurt, honey, you've got to distance yourself." The girl plopped down on her bed, grabbing up a Seventeen magazine with one hand as she balanced her phone in the other. "You two spend so much time together in and out of school that it's become so… uh, what's the word for it - hmm… __**familiar**__ to you to be around him all the time. If you start to distance yourself, it'll be easier for you to get over him."_

"_But what if I don't want to get over him?" Kurt mumbled as he curled up in his bed. It was true: he didn't want to get over Blaine, but after all the crap the two of them had been through with one another, Kurt slowly started to realize that things weren't changing between them and that he was only setting himself up for an epic heartbreak._

_Mercedes sighed, "Boo, guys are so difficult to understand. I should know! How many times have I liked a guy, only to have them be completely wrong for me? Hell, I liked you once, remember?" The two friends chuckled at the memory and Mercedes continued._

"_I know you care about Blaine. He's a great guy, but you can't keep waiting for him forever. If he hasn't opened his eyes to your fabulousness now, he might not ever. The boy's dense, honey. Sorry to say, but he is."_

_Kurt groaned and ran a hand through his hair. Memories of him and Blaine from the past weekend flashed through his mind: the way Blaine curled against him as he cried, the way they flirted with one another, the way their bodies fit together so perfectly as they spooned on Blaine's bed. It just wasn't fair…_

"_I thought things were going to change this weekend, Cedes. I really did."_

_He didn't tell his bestie about Blaine's nightmares or his past, but he did mention that the boy had a mini-breakdown that was resolved by the two of them practically cuddling all night. When Kurt first mentioned the incident, Mercedes squealed like a little girl, asking if the two Warblers were finally an item. It only saddened him more when he had to tell her that nothing had changed and that they were still just the **best** of friends._

"_I know you did, baby, but like I said before: men suck. It'll be for the best if you start to space yourself away from Blaine soon anyways. There are other gay guys at Dalton, right? You should see if any of them are interesting."_

_Kurt sighed at the girl's suggestion, "I don't want any of the other guys at Dalton, Cedes. I want Blaine. Just him."_

_There was silence on the other end of the line… finally Mercedes' voice came through, soft and sad._

"_I know… I know."_

* * *

><p>The two friends went about the next hour talking about glee and the upcoming Regionals competition. Neither one of them really spoke about their rival club, even though Kurt was dying to know what he was missing at McKinley. Just the thought of all his friends preparing for the competition without him broke his heart. It hurt a lot when he had to abandon – <em>no, not abandon… he never abandoned them -<em> when he left for Dalton and joined the Warblers… but now, with the upcoming Regionals competition coming up, Kurt had a foul taste in his mouth.

He wanted to win the competition so bad last year and they didn't even place…

Now he was with a completely different glee club, getting ready to fight against his old glee club for the same thing he desired so hard to win last year. No doubt in his mind that he wanted to win for himself, but if the Warblers won, that meant that New Directions wouldn't win for the second year in a row… and they had all been excited about hearing that Nationals was going to be held in New York City that year. So, if the Warblers won, then New Directions would be crushed and if New Directions won, then the Warblers would be upset.

And poor Kurt would be depressed either way.

Sighing, the teen pulled his blankets tight around his body and cocooned himself in the warmth. Part of him wished he could go back in time and told his past self to keep his mouth shut about Karofsky, to just deal with the daily bullying and insults and stay at McKinley. Sure, that meant that he probably would've never met Blaine (depending on whether or not he went to spy on the Warblers), but then he could be with New Directions and he wouldn't be heartbroken and everything would be wonderful.

_No, it wouldn't…_

Who's to say that Karofsky wouldn't have kicked his ass later on down the line or perhaps have taken things too far other than an unexpected, forced kiss? Who's to say that the other football players wouldn't have hurt Kurt more horribly than they had in previous years or that Karofsky wouldn't have made true that death threat he threw at Kurt? Just because Finn and Puck and the other guys started to protect him more didn't mean anything; they didn't start bodyguarding him until _after_ things started to come out. Things were still touchy within him as he remembered the duets challenge that the glee club had, where he had wanted to sing with Sam Evans and was told by Finn that dueting with the boy meant a certain social death for the newbie. Sure, Kurt had come on to Sam a little too strong in the beginning, but it broke his heart to know that just being associated with him meant social suicide.

Ever since that day (despite the fact that he had dealt with similar situations before, this one just highlighted the unfairness of it all), Kurt had to hide his resentment over the fact that just because he was gay, he would have to deal with people persecuting for not doing anything wrong. Just because he was there, things became difficult. He resented it _all_.

He _resented_ the fact that his friends in New Directions took so long to notice how conflicted he was.

He _resented_ the fact that he had to leave his school because his life was threatened and there was nothing he could do to prove it.

He _resented_ the fact that he had to go to Dalton and had to become another nameless face in a sea of red and navy.

He _resented_ the fact that he was a member of _another_ glee club that didn't appreciate him for his voice or his ideas.

And most of all…

He _resented_ the fact that every single person he had ever had romantic feelings for didn't give two shits about him enough to even reciprocate, especially _Blaine_.

As catty as that sounded, it was true and Kurt hated all of it. He hated being invisible. He hated being caged. He hated being – no, _feeling_ – alone.

With tears brimming in his tired eyes, Kurt pulled his blankets over his face and allowed himself a good cry. It was always easier to cry yourself to sleep anyways.

* * *

><p><span>AN: Sometimes I think I write too much, haha. My other fic has shorter chapters than this one and SYNMTC and I get more reviews per chapter for that one than these ones, lol. Oh well, please review! I got a lot of favorites and alerts, but only a handful of reviews for the last chapter… and that makes me sad (please don't make me beg, haha). Reviews make the world go 'round, lovelies! OH, and I freaking had a KURTOFSKY/Klaine related dream the other night that I determined would make a pretty decent fanfic (oh help my everloving Klaine heart). I've been debating on whether or not to write it, but as of right now, with this fic and _Confused_ on my plate, I may put it off until later.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the continuation/sequel fic to my other story _Sometimes You Need More Than Courage _(SYNMTC). You can read this without having to read the other fic, if you'd like, but there may be some things from that previous story that will show up in this one (so by suggestion, I recommend reading SYNMTC and then reading this so you won't be confused). Anyways, this takes place a little bit before and during the episode _Original Song_.

A/N #2: PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER AS WELL FOR EXPLANATIONS REGARDING THE UPDATION OF THIS FIC!

* * *

><p><em>Oh, oh, I want some more Oh, oh, what are you waiting for? <em>_Take a bite of my heart tonight_

Neon Trees came out blasting as Kurt's cell phone alarm went off at a dark and way too early four AM. The sleepy teen reached over and set his alarm to sleep, sinking back into his blanket cocoon for just a few more moments of rest.

As he nestled his head into his down pillow, his mind slipped back into dreamland where he was currently curled up against Blaine's lean body. The other boy's arms were coiled around him in a protective embrace and every few seconds, Blaine would pepper warm kisses along Kurt's hairline as he hummed _Animal_ under his breath.

'_I love you,'_ dream Kurt whispered as he snuggled into dream Blaine's bicep. A noise slid from his throat that eerily reminded him of a cross between a cat's purr and a bird's chirp.

'_What did you say?'_ Dream Blaine asked as he leaned up and gazed down at the boy lying in his arms. _'Did you just chirp at me, Kurt Hummel?'_

'_No, I said I love you. Didn't you hear?'_

'_Why are you chirping? I don't speak canary.'_

'_I'm not speaking canary, Blaine. I love you! Did you understand that?'_

He blinked his blue eyes once, then twice, and noticed that dream Blaine had released him from his grasp and was now staring down at him. A confused look was plastered on his face.

'_You're looking a little yellow, Kurt. Are you okay?'_

'_Just peachy. Now – are you going to say the words back? Please say so… please?'_

'_Chirp.'_

Dream Kurt raised a brow as dream Blaine leaned forward and pressed a kiss (sharp and pointed – wait, was that a beak?) to his cheek. As soon as his harsh lips pulled away from the porcelain – no wait, yellow? – skin, dream Blaine began to sing _Animal_ once more as he stood up and sprouted wings.

'_Blaine? What the hell?'_

The once dark haired boy just continued to chirp along with the music, his wings waving happily in the air.

_Oh, oh, I want some more Oh, oh, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Say goodbye to my heart tonight_

Kurt sat up quickly, his arm swinging out in fury as he slammed the alarm off on his phone. With as hard as he attacked the offending device, Kurt sincerely hoped that he didn't damage the screen. However, given the fact that he was just way too exhausted to care, the grumbling teen ignored the abused phone, rolled over, and threw his body off of the bed.

As soon as his bare feet hit the cool carpeting, Kurt arched his back into a morning stretch and listened carefully as the bones of his spine popped and moved. He sighed in relief as he fully woke his body from exhaustion and padded his way over to Pavarotti's cage.

The tiny canary was sitting peacefully on his perch, his beady little eyes staring at nothing in particular as he chirped a song.

"You're awfully chipper this morning, Pav." Kurt commented as he scooped some bird seed into the cage and patted the tiny warbler on its head. "Excited to see everyone today?"

Pavarotti sang in response and hopped off of his perch to peck happily at his food. He looked so adorable that Kurt stood and watched for a moment before he took a glance at his wall clock. It was almost a quarter after four; he was running late!

Breezing through his morning moisturizing routine (usually he took an hour to apply his products – today he shortened it to 45 minutes), Kurt threw on his Dalton uniform and grabbed up Pav's cage, throwing his homemade Burberry-esque cover over the metal bird house.

"Ready to go, Pav?" He yawned as he stepped outside and into the chill morning air. He dashed to his Navigator, unlocked the doors, and securely tucked the bird cage away in the backseat before he climbed into the driver seat. "Sing me a song or something, will you? I don't want to fall asleep on the road!"

And as if the little canary spoke perfect human English, he puffed out his tiny chest and sang a few tweets that sounded somewhat similar to _Animal_.

* * *

><p>"Good morning!"<p>

Kurt yawned as he sat down next to a chipper looking Blaine. The darker haired teen was sitting across from him, two coffees grasped in both of his hands. He held out one coffee to his friend with a smile.

"Got you a nonfat mocha. Is that alright?"

Kurt nodded as he brought the hot drink to his lips and drank eagerly. He was absolutely exhausted; the usual two hour drive from Lima to Westerville had already tuckered him out and he inwardly cursed the fact that he shortened his morning moisturizing routine just to have a few extra minutes of shut eye. His face felt warm, his body was cold, and he wondered if he was getting sick. He wasn't about to bring it up to Blaine though, knowing that the other boy would probably spend all day fretting about him.

And he didn't think he could really deal with Blaine freaking out over him right now.

"Hey, you're looking a little pale? Are you alright?"

Blaine was leaning forward in his seat, watching his friend closely as the blue eyed boy wobbled slightly across the table.

Kurt looked up and saw Blaine watching him; flashbacks of the two of them walking through the halls the day before took over and he remembered Blaine asking him a question very similar to the one he had just asked.

_"You alright? You look a little pale."_

_Maybe he was getting sick?_ Kurt leaned forward a bit, his head looming closer towards Blaine's. He blinked back some sleep from his eyes and laid his head in his hands.

"I'm just exhausted today, Blaine. It's nothing to worry about."

"You should've stayed home. I mean, I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but you look terrible."

"Oh thanks," Kurt grumbled as he pulled his head from his palms and took another sip of his coffee. "I just need to catch up on my sleep, that's all. I've just been swamped with homework and practice and all the driving from Lima to here is getting old."

Blaine reached across the table and took Kurt's free hand, giving it a squeeze. His golden eyes flickered for a moment when he felt Kurt's hand slightly pull back.

"Oh," he whispered, releasing his grip from Kurt's with a frown. He wasn't expecting the boy to suddenly tense up like that. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, I'm sorry." Kurt murmured tiredly, looking down at his hand, "I just… if it's not just exhaustion and I'm getting sick or anything, I don't want you to catch it. I should probably go."

"Are you going to Dalton?"

Kurt bit his lip. He really hadn't thought of that. Was he going to go back to Dalton? He was feeling pretty crappy, so he wasn't really feeling like heading back to class. However, he didn't see the point in driving the two hours from Lima to Westerville, only to have to turn around and head back home for another long drive.

He could stick it out another day. Plus, he brought Pavarotti along this time and he always felt bad about dragging Pav out into cold weather…

"I'm going to class," he decided. "There's no sense in me driving all the way here if I'm not going to attend school today, you know?"

Blaine nodded, "I just don't want you to overwork yourself, Kurt. If you need to rest or anything, you are more than welcome to nap in my room if you'd like."

Kurt flushed a bit at Blaine's suggestion. As much as he would like to curl back up in Blaine's bed and breathe in the woodsy, manly scent that was the handsome boy he cared so much about, he knew he couldn't do such a thing. He slowly but surely would have to wean himself from Blaine – just enough to maybe damper his feelings for the boy. Relishing in his crush's unique scent would do nothing but advance Kurt's feelings and he really didn't want to deal with that now.

"Thanks for the offer, but I should be okay." Kurt muttered, finishing off the last drags off his coffee. "We should probably be heading out now. I left Pav in the car and I don't want him to get sick or anything."

"True," Blaine agreed as he glanced down at his watch. The two of them had barely been in the shop for ten minutes, but he completely understood why they needed to leave. It definitely wasn't good to leave an animal in the car for too long, no matter what the temperature was.

Both boys stood up. Blaine held his still semi-full cup of medium drip in one hand as he pushed the front door open with the other. Kurt tossed his empty coffee into the trash bin as he exited the shop.

"Thank you," the taller boy replied with a gentle blush as he stepped into the chilly spring morning air. "Meet you in the parking lot."

"You lead. I'll follow," Blaine called out as he headed over to his car and hopped inside. For the next few minutes, he followed behind the Navigator, paying close attention to the way Kurt drove ahead of him. The boy seemed to be operating the vehicle just fine, but Blaine did notice that Kurt was driving a little slower than normal.

_He must really be tired. All this driving is killer for him. I wish he just boarded here instead of commuting… but the tuition here is already so steep and I know for a fact that Burt and Carole are doing their best to send him here now. If only I could help…_

But Blaine knew he couldn't. Dalton didn't offer very many scholarships for housing and since Kurt transferred mid-semester, he unfortunately fell out of the grace period for someone to apply for a housing scholarship. In Blaine's opinion though, given the circumstances, Kurt should've been allowed at least a chance to apply for help (though he wondered if Kurt was much too proud to ask for anything). When Blaine himself transferred to Dalton just a year and a half ago, he didn't make the cut for the scholarship either, even though he didn't need it. His parents shelled out the couple thousands of dollars needed to move Blaine into his dorm and that was the end of it.

Okay, so it really wasn't the _end_ of it.

Blaine could still remember his father ranting and raving in the car about the cost of the dorms and how much extra he was paying for his son to have a single dorm room (at the insistence of Mrs. Anderson, of course).

"_I don't understand why he needs a private room, Maria. It's bad enough I have to send him to this school, which isn't cheap if you haven't already noticed! Now I've got to throw more money at them to get Blaine his own room?"_

"_He really needs time, William. He wouldn't get the privacy he needs if he bunks with someone else."_

"_Well, that shouldn't be our problem. It's his fault he's even going to this school in the first place-"_

Just the memory of his father's words made Blaine's fingers curl tightly around the steering wheel. He remembered sitting in the backseat of their luxury car, listening as his parents bickered back and forth over his schooling; his body curled up against the window as he ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, feeling the raise of stitching along the inside of his mouth. His bruised body ached and his nose throbbed from the pain, but he sat still in silence in the backseat trying to block out his father's hurtful outbursts. He recalled thinking about the beating he received at the Sadie Hawkins' dance and how it was never his fault, but it was in his father's eyes and that's why they were sending him to Dalton – to avoid the shame he brought upon his family.

Not to protect him, but to _hide_ him.

Blaine squeezed the steering wheel a little harder as he felt his throat close in anger. He was not going to melt down now, especially not when he was going to have to meet up with Kurt in the parking lot soon. He turned on his blinker and turned into the entrance of Dalton, following a short distance behind Kurt, parking in the boarders' lot while Kurt parked not too far away in the commuters' area. Gathering a strengthening breath, Blaine hopped out of his car and made his way across the lot to Kurt.

"ANDERSON!"

At the sound of his last name, Blaine looked up at the person who shouted for him. Across the asphalt skipped none other than Jeff Sterling, another one of the junior Warblers. The blonde skidded to a halt in front of Blaine.

"The council's looking for you. Says it's an emergency. I'm supposed to tell you to meet them in the rehearsal hall as soon as possible, so you'd better get a move on!"

"But Kurt-" The hazel eyed boy let his gaze fall over to where Kurt's Navigator was parked. He noticed Kurt staring at him with this odd look before the boy waved his hands towards the school, practically signifying to him to go where he needed to be.

"Okay, I'll go. But Jeff, can you tell Kurt I'll see him at lunch?"

"Can do," the platinum haired Warbler grinned as he strutted over to the guy across the parking lot from him. "You'd better hurry, Blaine. Wes sent me looking for you over fifteen minutes ago!"

And with that, Blaine shot once last glance towards Kurt before he ran off into the busy halls of Dalton.

* * *

><p>"You want me to do what?"<p>

Wes rolled his eyes for the millionth time as he regarded the confused junior boy standing before him. "I need you to do an impromptu performance of _Misery_ during study hall today."

"But for what reason? And why during study hall?"

Thad pulled a steaming mug of tea away from his lips and stared at Blaine for a moment before he answered his friend's question. "Honestly, Blaine? Did you seriously just ask us about performing during study hall? This isn't the first time the Warblers have pulled a stunt like that – I mean, that day Hummel came to spy on us…"

He trailed off after noticing the far off look in Blaine's eyes.

"This is about Kurt, isn't it?"

"No," Blaine mumbled. Okay, so it was about Kurt... just a little. He couldn't help it though – study hall was one of the only times of the day that Kurt had a chance to catch up on his homework before he had to drive back to Lima. The Warblers somewhat knew how much of a heavy load Kurt had taken on since arriving at Dalton; his schedule was harder – he didn't board, he commuted almost four hours a day, and when Warbler practice came into play, he hardly had time for himself.

Sure, it was something that he had to deal with, but it wasn't something that Blaine liked Kurt to have to handle.

Which was why his mind immediately went to question-mode over the council's idea to hold a random study hall concert.

"Are you sure we just couldn't do this at lunch?"

"Sorry Blaine, but the seniors have a class meeting during lunch that is mandatory, so we just can't hold a performance during that time. Study hall is the only time we can really practice this song," David explained.

"We can practice it during our Warbler class time, couldn't we?" Blaine was honestly trying his hardest to push the performance out of study hall, but it was not working whatsoever.

"It's been a while since we performed for the student body and today is the perfect time to do so. Why question our decision now? It has already been agreed upon," Wes smirked as he patted Blaine on his shoulder. "Be ready to perform at two o' clock, okay Anderson?"

With a flash of a smile, the three councilmen hurried off to their first period classes, leaving Blaine standing behind in the hallway. Sighing, Blaine ran a hand through his gelled hair, biting down on his lip as he walked down the hall.

_It had been a while since he last performed for the student body… and the Warblers were like freaking rock stars, so how much damage could one little performance during study hall do anyways? It wasn't like Kurt didn't mind singing…_

Pushing the earlier, conflicting thoughts from his mind, Blaine picked up the pace as he somewhat skipped down the hall. He waved at a few of his classmates as he walked to History.

_Performing always put him in a better mood!_

* * *

><p><em>Being exhausted always put Kurt in a bad mood.<em>

He sluggishly dragged himself into one of the study rooms and plopped down at a table next to Nick. The shaggy haired Warbler offered his choir mate a smile as he finished scribbling down an answer to some math problem.

"You okay, Kurt? You look a little tired."

"Well, I'm exhausted, but what else is new?" Kurt offered with a slight smile. He opened up his own Trigonometry notebook and pulled out a worksheet the teacher had given them just hours before. "Are you almost finished with Trig?"

"Heck no," Nick grumbled as he slid his paper over towards Kurt. "I am terrible at math. I just fill in random numbers, turn the homework in, and pray that I pass."

Kurt rolled his eyes at this – honestly, how did Nick even _pass_? - and went back to solving a rather tough equation. It was during times like this that he wished he could whip out his calculator and check his answers, but he had foolishly left the device on his desk at home. Hell, he could've even used his phone's calculator, but the damn electronic died in the middle of his morning commute from the Westerville Whip to Dalton and he never had a chance to find someone with a matching charger.

It was like his day was meant to suck or something.

With a groan, he added up the answer as best as he could in his head before he scribbled the solution down on the worksheet. Somewhere outside, the academy clock tower chimed and Kurt didn't miss the slight look Nick gave his paper as he stole the answer to number twelve.

_Yeah Nick, just go ahead and copy my homework. Not like I mind or anything becau-_

"OH YEAH!"

The sky suddenly rained papers, many of them landing all over Kurt and his homework. The blue eyed boy narrowed his gaze as he glanced down at the paper covered study table and around at the suddenly worksheet flooded room.

Before him stood Blaine, singing and dancing with a few of the other Warblers who were in the room. _When did we schedule a performance?_ Kurt wondered as he looked around and noticed every other Warbler singing along. He brushed a few papers off of his arm and shot a look towards Nick, who was also singing. He stared on in horror as the other boy held up his cell phone with a text that said:

**Singing Misery at 2 PM for Warblers! In Study Hall C! Be there! – Wes**

A knowing, yet annoyed smile spread across Kurt's face as he looked up and watched Blaine strut over to him, still belting out his song. _He didn't get that damn text because his phone died. Well…_ Blaine was now picking papers up off of the table and tossing them in the air carelessly. He shot a quick look to Kurt before he leaned down and practically pried him away from the table.

With a slight huff, Kurt grabbed up his messenger bag and pulled it close to him as he let Blaine lead him out of the hall. The shorter boy guided him towards a bench and gently pushed him to sit before he started to dance around the room with the rest of the glee club. Throughout all of this, no matter how flashy the dance moves or how brilliantly Blaine sang the song, Kurt could only think of a few things as he lamely sang along.

_How annoying is it that Blaine gets all the solos._

_No one better knock over Pavarotti's cage while they're dancing._

_I left my homework in the study._

_God, I am sooooo tired of this..._

* * *

><p>The song had ended and the other Warblers, including Kurt and Pavarotti, were now back in the study hall doing God knows what.<p>

Blaine stood outside the hall, his face locked in a look of confusion. Kurt had just practically insulted him.

_Blaine and the Pips? What was that supposed to mean?_

Sure, it was true that Blaine got most, if not all, of the solos that the Warbler council gave out throughout the year, but it wasn't because of favoritism or anything – the Warblers genuinely thought Blaine Anderson was an amazing singer. His solos were won fair and square through auditions that sometimes went through several rounds before a soloist was picked.

And yet, despite Kurt knowing this fact, he was still bitter over the idea that Blaine was singing the solos for Regionals. He was jealous, a whole lotta jealous… and it was this jealously that made him get just a tid bit snippy with Blaine.

Just a tid bit though.

But that little smidgen of snip was enough to knock Blaine backwards and even off of his performance high. The curly haired boy didn't know what to think, or even what to do for that matter, as he stood out in the hall watching as his fellow Warblers chatted about a job well done.

_Was he really that pompous, that selfish that he needed so many solos?_

_Was Kurt only saying those things because he was in a bad mood or did he really mean it?_

_And what was the deal with Kurt anyway?_

Thoughts blazed through Blaine's head as he stayed cemented in his spot in the deserted hall. He stayed there for a few minutes more before he felt someone press a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You okay there, Blaine? You look a little shell shocked?"

Bright green eyes were gazing down at him – oh, it was Warbler Luka. The blonde sophomore had one light brow raised in question as he stared down at the older boy standing before him.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Blaine whispered as he shrugged out of Luka's touch. "I've just got a bit of post-performance adrenaline running through my system and it made me a little bit nauseous, that's all."

"The great Blaine Anderson - nauseous after a performance? What is this world coming to?" Luka joked as he patted his classmate on the back. "You should gather yourself and get ready. The bell for final period should be ringing soon. You've been standing out here for quite a while."

With a quick glance at his pocket watch, Blaine confirmed the sophomore's statement, noticing that he had indeed been standing in the hall for over a half an hour. How time had flown by so fast was beyond him…

_Ding, ding, ding!_

The bell for the final class of the day rang and the study hall began to empty. A few of the Warblers who had returned to Study Hall C crept out and stared at Blaine with blank looks on their faces, as if they were all trying to figure out why their soloist was just standing there like a statue in the hallway.

"What's up with Anderson?"

"I dunno. He looks lost."

"I wonder what happened."

"Yo, Anderson! You alright?"

Blaine blinked for a moment, realizing that he still had his pocket watch in his hand, though it was closed. He slipped the watch back into his blazer and turned on his heel, ignoring the calls from his classmates. The only answer he offered them was a slight nod and a wave of his hand as he rushed off towards his final class.

Thank God he didn't have that class with Kurt. He wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with him right now.

* * *

><p>Unlike Blaine, Kurt had gone back to the study hall with one goal in mind: finish up some of his homework.<p>

He cleared away the mess of papers that Blaine and the other guys had thrown about, before he got back to working on his math worksheet. He spent the rest of the study period writing down answers and letting Nick copy from his paper before the bell for the final class rang. Stretching, he stood up and slid all of his books into his messenger bag; then he gathered up Pavarotti's cage and walked out into the hall to see Blaine waving off some of the other Warblers as he rushed down the way.

"Kurt, do you know what's up with Blaine? He just ignored all of us."

"Probably has a meeting with the council or something," the blue eyed boy huffed as he hooked Pav's cage back on the stand in the hall. "I'll be back for you within an hour, Pav," he whispered to the bird as he covered his cage back up with the Burberry cover.

The other Warblers who passed him kept on talking about Blaine, but Kurt pushed their concerns from his mind as he clutched his shoulder bag closer to his body. So what if Blaine rushed off? The boy is always disappearing somewhere. He was like two different people, that Anderson. One minute, he was touchy-feely-showman Blaine, flirting up a storm with Kurt… and the next, he was shy-confused Blaine, not wanting to ruin a perfectly good friendship yet wanting to flirt with everyone and everything else under the sun. He pissed Kurt off.

_He got all of the solos._

_He was always in the spotlight._

_He toyed with Kurt's heart._

Okay, so the last one could be taken in different ways. Blaine was rather oblivious, that was something that could be seen with the naked eye miles and miles away… but, despite his blindness, the boy had to have known that he was causing something in Kurt to malfunction. After their secret sharing weekend just a few days prior, Kurt hoped that something would have changed and yet nothing did. Blaine went back to being best friend Blaine, back to solo hogging Blaine.

There was no change whatsoever and no matter how many times Kurt tried to push that fact out of his mind, he found himself growing bitter and angry with his best friend turned crush.

_This bitterness was slowly pulling him apart._

_Apart from inside himself and apart from Blaine._

_And he just didn't know what to do._

_Not at all._

* * *

><p><span>AN: Okay, I can hear the angry mob now: "Mel, where the hell have you been? It's been over TWO MONTHS since you've updated this fic! What were you thinking?" To be completely honest… MY MOJO IS DEAD! I honestly don't know how it happened. I went on a few weeks' vacation (they were decent, I'll give them that much) and then I got really sick and spent a few weeks running back and forth to the doctors' office, but even after that, I couldn't bring myself to write. All the ideas I had for this fic and my other fic seemed to slip out of my mind. I've been Klaine-ing like crazy (watching Glee, reading fanfics, and the like), hoping that really, REALLY getting back into the fandom (never left, just needed a boost) would jog my imagination, but I've gotten absolutely NOTHING. ZILCH. NADA. ZERO. And it makes me really upset.

So, here I am, offering my sincerest apologies to you.

I'm sorry this chapter was posted sooooo late. I'm sorry it sucked (I had the hardest time trying to get this one down on paper) and I'm sorry to anyone out there who completely lost interest. I understand your pain and I hope I can reel you back in with future chapters, of which I am hoping to be able to write easier than getting this chapter out has been.

Also, I apologize if my chapters have any mistakes (grammatical or what not – let me know if you see anything that drives you bonkers) or if things just don't make sense. I blame my rogue thoughts for everything and I will try to make things up to you. Plus, the end of the chapter sort of left off in a random spot - sorry about that too. I'm leaving it as is and will pick up within the next chapter when I figure out where I'm going with this particular scene. Sorry guys. :(

Anyways, thanks for hearing me out and thanks LOADS to all my reviewers for the last chapter of this fic. I appreciate your input and kind words. I love you guys and I'm sorry I don't really show it.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the continuation/sequel fic to my other story _Sometimes You Need More Than Courage _(SYNMTC). You can read this without having to read the other fic, if you'd like, but there may be some things from that previous story that will show up in this one (so by suggestion, I recommend reading SYNMTC and then reading this so you won't be confused). Anyways, this takes place a little bit before and during the episode _Original Song_.

* * *

><p>Blaine leaned his cheek on his hand, his eyes glazed over in thought.<p>

It was the last class of the day and he hadn't paid attention to anything the entire period. Around him, his classmates scribbled down notes as their Literature teacher stood at the front of the room, his back to his students as he wrote on the blackboard.

"Mr. Anderson, you are unusually quiet this afternoon. Do you have anything to add to our discussion?"

Blaine's head snapped up as his gaze cleared and landed on his teacher, who was now facing the front of the room. Professor Milton raised a brow as Blaine struggled to choke out an answer. Usually the junior was very well-spoken and attentive, but for some odd reason, he seemed off of his game today. Mr. Milton frowned a bit before speaking, "Do you even know what we are discussing, Blaine?"

"Umm, sir, to be honest… no."

Eyes around the room widened as the rest of the classroom stared at their classmate. Blaine had very high marks in all of his courses and was well-known throughout the school as being rather gifted when it came to academics. He was the type of student who engaged in classroom discussions and excelled in debate. However, today was just not his day.

Licking his chapped lips, the teen dropped his gaze from his professor's and sighed. "I'm very sorry, sir. I'm having a hard time paying attention today; I do not feel very well."

"Are you needing to see the nurse?"

"No, sir. I'll just wait until class is over. I'm fine," Blaine brushed off the concerned looks that were shot around the room because of him and went back to copying the notes that were written on the board.

"Very well then," the teacher continued, glancing over at one of his best pupils one last time. "Back to our discussion on sexuality and stereotyping within modern literature…"

* * *

><p>Kurt walked down the desolate Dalton halls, eyes slightly drooping as he stepped up to Pavarotti's lonesome cage.<p>

"Hey Pav," he greeted, pulling the cage cover off in order to see his canary. "Ready to head home?"

The tiny bird chirped a cheerful response and bounced around on his perch for a bit. His enthusiasm to head back to Lima caused Kurt to smile as he recovered the cage, lifted it from its stand, and carried out to his car.

"I'm going straight to bed when we get home, alright Pav. So if you're going to do any singing, I suggest you do it now while we're in the car, otherwise you'll be spending the evening with Finn."

He gently set the cage down in the backseat, secured it, and then climbed into the driver's seat, buckling himself in and starting up the car. Once the Navigator purred to life, Pavarotti began to chirp happily in the back. Kurt reached behind him and pulled the cage cover off, smiling at the tiny Warbler who stared back at him.

"Honestly, I have no idea what I'd do without you, Pavarotti. It sounds silly, doesn't it? Me needing a bird. But, you keep me calm. If it weren't for you being in the room today, I probably would've ripped Blaine's head off of his body. I didn't want you to see something like that."

Pavarotti tweeted.

"Too graphic, hmm? Sorry about that. I'm just a little bit irked at Blaine; you know how dense he can be."

Another chirp.

"Oh well. Enough about Blaine Anderson. I bet he's one of those people that if you talk about them too much, their ego grows no matter where they are… and we really don't need his head to explode, now do we?"

Pav sang as he stretched out his tiny wings.

"Didn't think so," Kurt sighed as he sped onto the interstate entrance ramp.

* * *

><p>It was nearing dinner time when Blaine found himself being shaken awake.<p>

"…wha?"

"Come on, Anderson! It's dinner time and we're hungry!"

Sleepy hazel eyes blinked open and closed slowly as they struggled to take in the light of the room. Yawning, Blaine reached up and aided his sight by rubbing his fists against his tired eyes. Once he was properly awake, he let his gaze travel around the room to where a handful of Warblers stood. The council was there, along with a few of the other underclassmen members. Jeff stood before him, white teeth shining as he grinned down at the previously napping guy.

"Get up, Blaine! You're gonna miss dinner if you don't hurry. The dining hall's gonna close soon and then you'll be all grumpy for the rest of the night because you failed to eat on time!"

"I have a mini fridge with food in it," Blaine said as he gestured towards the small appliance with a flourish. "I can eat later."

"Oh pish posh," Trent laughed, "get up and let's go hit the buffet before they close the cafeteria."

"Go without me."

"Why?"

"Not hungry."

"Are you serious or are you joking? Because honestly, Blaine, I think you're kidding around with us. You have the appetite of a growing boy and-"

"I am a growing boy."

"-if you don't eat dinner soon, you'll be sorry. No matter how many frozen tv dinners you scarf down, nothing is better than pot pie night in the cafeteria." Nick nodded his head slowly as he tried to convince his friend to roll out of bed and follow them to the dining hall.

"It's pot pie night?" Blaine asked sleepily, holding a hand in front of his face to hide his yawn.

"Yep!"

"Well, I guess I could go."

Slowly, Blaine slid off of his bed and slid his feet into a pair of well worn house slippers. He mentally thanked the higher powers that it was after five in the evening because then he could wear whatever he wanted to down to the dining hall - eating in general was rather difficult in a stuffy blazer and late night meals were no fun in Dalton regulation slacks, which had barely any stretch in them for if you ate too much. Sighing, Blaine stretched his tired limbs and grabbed a hoodie to pull over his plain white t-shirt.

"Let's head off to dinner."

As the group of boys excited the dorm room, Blaine straggled behind, his mind wandering with thoughts of why the group of guys before him cared so much to wake him before the dining hall closed.

They were just the 'Pips' in the equation, weren't they?

What if they only hung around Blaine because he was their lead singer? Their Gladys Knight? Would they even care to drag him out of bed and make sure he was well fed if he wasn't their lead soloist? Would any of them even want to be around him if he couldn't sing and wasn't a Warbler? Were they only giving him solos because they pitied him and thought he needed friends? Did they only give him solos to keep him happy? Did they really even like Blaine at all?

Despite how overdramatic his mind was making things out to be, the mash-up of thoughts hit him like a freight train and he found himself stop dead in the hall. Ahead of him, Wes stopped walking and turned around, eyes narrowing as he found Blaine standing a good distance away from their group. The younger boy's eyes were downcast and his arms were stuffed into the front pockets of his hoodie.

"Blaine?"

The entire scene reminded Wes of when the junior first showed up at Dalton. He didn't have any friends, he was closed off from everyone, and he never really talked. It wasn't until the boy joined the Warblers that he started to break out of his shell… and for some odd reason, the way Blaine was standing at that very moment, it was like he was returning to his hollowed self once again.

"Anderson, yo! You okay?"

Jeff ran backwards and waved a hand in front of Blaine's face. After a few more moments of silence, Blaine's hazel eyes snapped upwards and he stared open-mouthed at the blonde standing before him.

"I'm fine," he mumbled, brushing past the other boy. "Let's just get to the hall before they run out of pot pie."

"Now you're talking!"

The rest of the hour was spent laughing and shoveling pot pie into their mouths. Blaine sat around his friends and watched as they chuckled and joked between bites; not once was he left out of the conversation. None of the guys treated him any differently than they treated everyone else and the more Blaine watched his friends interact, the more he grew annoyed with the thoughts his mind threw at him earlier.

So what if Kurt got a little pissy over the amount of solos Blaine was awarded by the council?

It had nothing to do with pity or even favoritism; Blaine was just as good of a friend towards the three councilmen as any of the other guys were. In fact, if he really thought about it: Nick and Jeff were closer to the council than he was. On the nights that Blaine hung out in Lima with Kurt, the other guys would have video game marathons in Jeff's dorm room or they'd karaoke down in the common room. They spent more time with one another than Blaine ever did with any of them, so his amount of solos had nothing to do with any sort of favoritism.

And it wasn't his fault that the council loved his voice.

Scooping a heaping bite of chicken and veggies into his mouth, Blaine let his mind wander back to the look on Kurt's face earlier that day in the hall. He honestly looked bored… and annoyed. Kurt had spent the entirety of the 'Misery' performance barely moving around or singing and he seemed more interested in shutting Blaine down than anything else.

It was rather confusing.

Sighing, Blaine set his fork down on his empty plate and glanced around the table, watching the other guys finish up their meals. "I think I'm gonna head back up to my room now, guys. I've got a lot of homework to finish up," he offered as he stood up from the table with his tray.

The other Warbler members nodded and bid him goodbye as he snuck out of the dining hall and dumped his trash. As he trudged through the darkened halls of the school, he shoved his hands into his pockets and let his thoughts take over. He had one major thing he wanted to figure out and one thing only:

_What in the world was going on with Kurt Hummel?_

* * *

><p>"You should've seen it, Kurt. I swear it was a least the size of the couch!"<p>

Finn was regaling the dinner table with his story of how a random deer jumped out in front of his truck on the way home; his long arms stretched wide as he demonstrated the size of the mammoth Bambi that tried to fight his car.

"I'm sure it was," Kurt lamely commented. He had his cheek resting against a hand as he pushed a pile of cooked carrots around on his plate.

"Kurt, quit playing with your food." Burt mumbled. Even he was pushing around the carrots on his plate, so he really had no room to talk, but he wanted to take Carole's watchful eyes off of him for a moment. He knew his wife wasn't very keen on him not wanting to eat his veggies. "Something bothering you, bud?"

"Just glee club. That's all."

"Should I leave the room or something?" Finn asked, eyebrow raised. "I mean, while this would be a great opportunity to get some dirt on the competition-"

Kurt shot him a nasty glare.

"-I don't want to stoop to that level. Though I think Rachel wouldn't mind if I found out anything because-"

"Finn."

"Sorry."

The table was silent for a few moments before Finn finished off his dinner and asked to be excused from the table. Once the lanky teen was out of the room, both Carole and Burt turned to their melancholy son, who was still childishly poking at his cold carrots.

"Something you want to talk about, Kurt?"

"It's just... it's Blaine."

Burt huffed a bit at this, mumbling something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like '_Surprise,_' but Kurt ignored the statement and continued.

"No matter what, he always gets the solos in Warblers. Before I even transferred, he was their lead soloist and ever since I started there, he's always been the frontrunner. We've had so many auditions for so many different things and somehow, he always wins the top prize. He's like Rachel, if you know what I mean, except he gets more time in the spotlight and there aren't any group number solos for him to share."

"He always sings the solos?"

"Always. The rest of us just be-bop and sway in the background… and while we do sound amazing and the Warblers are an insanely talented group, they just don't change it up. They rely on Blaine's voice for everything - and while I agree that Blaine's voice is stunning and dreamy and all that jazz-"

Carole and Burt shared a look. Burt's gaze seemed more worried than anything else, while Carole's was starry-eyed and beaming.

"-I think he needs to step back and let the others shine. The Warblers aren't going to get anywhere if they continue to pull the same old rabbit out of the same old hat. The judges are going to get sick of seeing Mister Blaine Anderson front and center each and every competition season. Every time someone hears that the Warblers are coming, they are going to know exactly what's going to go down. The Warblers will doo wop and two step in the background while Blaine Anderson croons and wows the crowd. It's a given, it always will be."

Burt reached up and scratched the top of his slightly scruffy chin, "Don't you think you're reading into this a little bit much, kiddo? I mean, are you sure you're not a little bit-"

"Jealous? Oh, you bet I am. I'm practically blistering with envy right now."

Carole chuckled, "Your time will come, sweetheart. The Warblers would be foolish to neglect your beautiful voice."

Kurt smiled back at his stepmother, "Thanks. I just wish they would've decided to use me for Regionals. Hell, I just wish they would've used anyone but Blaine!"

"Do you really wish that?"

Kurt looked up at Carole, his blue eyes flashing slightly. "Kind of, sorta. I love hearing Blaine sing, but one can only stand hearing the same person solo over and over again. It's like that with Rachel as well. I love her voice, but just because she can belt doesn't mean she should get every solo, you know what I mean?"

His step mom nodded and stood up, gathering up the finished dinner plates.

"I just want a fair shot, you know what I mean? I want to feel like I contribute more to the group than I already do and I can't really do that just being in the background," he finished as he also stood up to help clear the table.

"Yes, I understand, sweetie. Tell me more in the kitchen?"

Kurt and his stepmother cleaned up the leftovers while Burt went into the living room to watch a basketball game with Finn. For the rest of the evening, Kurt entertained Carole with a rousing reenactment of what happened earlier that day in study hall complete with commentary.

* * *

><p>It wasn't very late.<p>

Kurt had retreated to his bedroom once all the dishes were tucked away in the dishwasher and the leftovers were put away. When he stepped into his room, he slowly stripped off his Dalton issued clothing and stepped into his private bathroom for a shower. He turned on the hot water and slipped into the stall, letting the warm liquid splash against his cool skin. As the water ran down his body, Kurt found himself lost within his thoughts.

The entire time he was talking to Burt and Carole downstairs, he continuously referred to the Warblers as 'they' never as 'we' or anything that included himself. A few times, he included himself in the mix, but throughout the conversation, it sounded - to him - like he was judging the group from an outsider's perspective, not as a full fledged member.

And these thoughts scared him.

He knew that he really didn't belong at Dalton Academy - if these last few days hadn't been any implication. After the night he spent with Blaine, listening to the other boy tell about his past woes, Kurt found himself missing McKinley High more than anything. While he loved the safety of Dalton and the more intriguing curriculum, there was something more personable about McKinley that Dalton lacked. At McKinley, Kurt could be himself (even if his style and personality were met with prejudice). He could wear what he wanted, sing what he wanted, and what not. However, at Dalton, he was stuck wearing a boring old blazer and was subjected to being background noise in one of the things that used to bring him joy: _glee club_.

Sighing, Kurt lathered up his hair and let the shower spray trickle along his face.

He really wasn't happy. He enjoyed certain things about Dalton, but he probably would've given anything right now just to go back to McKinley. The only reason he was sticking to his private haven was because an unapologetic Karofsky was still roaming the halls at the other school and who knew what that boy was capable of? Just the thought of the jock made Kurt's stomach churn in annoyance, annoyance because the hulking teen ran him out (and kept him out) of the one place he really didn't mind being at.

He missed McKinley. He missed New Directions. He missed it all.

Dalton just wasn't for Kurt. He was a caged bird, much like the yellow Warbler who sat perched in a covered cage in his bedroom. He desired to be set free, to fly on his own, to sing freely, to express himself… and instead, he was silenced and hidden away.

And it killed him.

Kurt missed his friends. He missed the dynamic of New Directions and how, even though he never had a competition solo, he was still given the opportunity to shine in other ways. Whether it be small solos during a group number or an opportunity to shake and shimmy around, he was never lost in a sea of red and navy like he was with the Warblers. While he didn't really mind the look of the blazer - especially on _Blaine _- the look was just not for him. He was just another prep school boy; he wasn't Kurt the fashionista/fashionisto. He was a Dalton Academy droid.

_Droid._

It sounded so terrible.

Slightly scrubbing at his face with exfoliant, Kurt leaned his body against the cool tiles of the shower wall. He breathed out a sad sigh as he mentally scolded himself for berating his current school. Dalton was _safe_, that was all that mattered.

Plus, _Blaine_ was there.

And despite the fact that nothing romantic would probably ever happen with Blaine, Kurt would sincerely miss the boy if he left Dalton now. Blaine knew him better than anyone else did and he was more like Kurt than anyone else could possibly ever be. Plus, he knew Blaine would worry about him if Karofsky was still around…

So, as much as he missed McKinley, Kurt knew he needed to be at Dalton. He needed to stay there until he knew he was safe enough to head back to his old school.

Rinsing out the last bit of conditioner from his hair, Kurt turned off the water and stepped out into his steamy bathroom. He dried off and dressed, brushed his hair, and got to work on his moisturizing routine. By the time it was 9:30, he was ready to hit the sack. Bidding goodnight to Pav, he climbed into bed and grabbed up his phone, staring down at the illuminated background: a funny picture of him and Blaine wearing monocles and top hats (some items they stumbled upon in the cupboard of the Warbler rehearsal hall; the photo op was too good to pass up). In the photo, Blaine had a fake mustache on and his face was silly and adorable.

It was so much different than the dumbfounded look that befell his features earlier that afternoon in the hall outside of the Study Hall C.

Kurt frowned into the darkness and opened up a new text to Blaine. He felt a bit bad about taking out his annoyance with the Warbler council on his best friend, so he decided to shoot the other boy a text. But before his fingers could type out an apology, the screen lit up with a message from Mercedes. Grinning, Kurt cancelled his text to Blaine and sent a response to his bestie - and thus spent the rest of the night texting his favorite diva until his eyes slipped shut from exhaustion.

He could just apologize to Blaine in the morning…

* * *

><p><span>AN: Jumpy fic is jumpy. No really, I apologize for the jumpiness of this chapter. I'm still not back into the swing of things; my writing mojo has been all but lost on this fic, to be honest. I've had ideas for this thing for the longest time and now my mind wants me to make a new fic (complete with ridiculous amounts of ANGST), but I want to finish this one and _Confused _before I start anything else. I have a bad track record of not finishing fics and I don't want that to happen to this one or the other in progress Klaine fic I have out, so I'm gonna do my best to finish this. I still have quite a ways to go with this one (like, killing off Pav AKA my eternal creys, the epic kiss, Regionals, and some more of Blaine's past), so we've got a bit to go my friends... but I hope you will stick through it! Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter and I hope you didn't hate this one. Thanks for reading! :)


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the continuation/sequel fic to my other story _Sometimes You Need More Than Courage _(SYNMTC). You can read this without having to read the other fic, if you'd like, but there may be some things from that previous story that will show up in this one (so by suggestion, I recommend reading SYNMTC and then reading this so you won't be confused). Anyways, this takes place a little bit before and during the episode _Original Song_.

* * *

><p>"Blaine, can we talk?"<p>

Kurt gripped his shoulder bag closer to his body as he jogged up to his best friend. The halls of Dalton were filled with blazered boys rushing to their first classes, some still lagging with the shadows of sleep. Blaine was one of those people.

"You look tired."

"I had a long night," the shorter teen commented as he dragged himself down the hall. Kurt took a moment took take in his best friend's appearance; the boy's usually well-kempt hair was slightly free of its usual gel, slight bags forming under his eyes. He looked rather rough.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Can we talk later?" Kurt didn't want to push his friend, but he felt that he needed to apologize for what was said after practice yesterday. After his late night text chat with Mercedes the night before, he struggled to fall asleep for almost an hour thanks to the images of Blaine staring at him like a kicked puppy after their confrontation in the hallway after_ Misery_. He just wanted Blaine to know that he wasn't trying to insult him or anything; he was just a little angry and-

"I can't."

"Wait, what? You can't?"

"I'm busy later. Sorry."

"But Blaine-"

Before he could finish, Blaine seemed to have sprouted a second wind, all of a sudden rushing down the hall towards his first class. Kurt stopped in his tracks in the hall, suddenly feeling highly annoyed with his friend. All he wanted to do was apologize for his actions yesterday and before he could even get a word in inch wise, Blaine blew him off.

Well, if that's how things were going to be, then maybe Kurt didn't want to apologize.

* * *

><p>For the rest of the day, neither Kurt nor Blaine really spoke to one another.<p>

There were casual comments tossed out at the lunch table, when it was just too awkward to reach halfway across the table for some salt or a napkin. There were a few _thank yous _tossed back if one held the door for the other, but other than that, the conversation between the best friends was strained.

And it remained that way for the rest of the week.

Everyone noticed it, though no one dared to comment on it. Warbler practice was quiet. Blaine sang his solos, Kurt doo-wopped behind him, and all was well.

Well, until Wes added Saturday practices to the schedule.

As soon as the announcement escaped his lips, a collective groan was heard throughout the room. Blaine leaned forward in his seat, eyes narrowed at his choir mates as he wondered why everyone seemed so unenthusiastic over the newly added practices. Warblers had always been like this; once competition time came about, practice hours were upped and more days were added to the list. You'd have thought that the complaining upperclassmen would've learned by now.

Ignoring the onslaught of teen boys saddened by their loss of Saturday morning sleep, the council adjourned the meeting and sent their team on their way.

On the way out of the building, Blaine shot a glance to Kurt, having just remembered that Saturdays within the Hummel household were cherished times since Kurt was always away at Westerville. He knew that the two hour round-trip drive to and from Dalton would suck a lot of Kurt's usual family time from his schedule - and that was NOT counting the hours of practice to be had on that day. Biting his lip, Blaine stepped forward to offer an olive branch to his best friend and to mention to the boy that his dorm room was always open if Kurt needed some place to crash.

Instead, he was blown off by Kurt as the other boy shouldered his bag and waltzed towards the council table with his head held high.

He was obviously going to ask for something.

Blaine wanted to hang back and see what the brazen boy was going to question, but decided not to stay after he noticed the weary looks that David and Thad were giving him. Sighing, he slid out of the rehearsal hall and went off on his way to the dining hall. He would just have to talk to Kurt later.

…whenever that was.

* * *

><p>When Kurt decided to ask the council if he could come into practice a little bit late, he was expecting to get shot down.<p>

…and get shot down, he did. Wes promptly explained that unless there was a family emergency that needed to be taken care of, Kurt Hummel was expected to be in the Warbler rehearsal hall at precisely ten a.m. the following morning. With a swift nod (and a roll of the eyes - not one that was seen by the council though), Kurt exited the hall and stalked off to the library, not really feeling like grabbing lunch at the moment.

He spent all lunch period in the library and spent the rest of his day zoning in and out with thoughts of his friends at McKinley, Pavarotti (who had been acting a wee bit strange over the last few days), and _Blaine_. It didn't help that the two of them weren't really conversing at the moment. Just not talking to Blaine made everything a bit boring at Dalton Academy. Kurt never realized how much he relied on Blaine at that school, and yet, here he was, bored to death because he and his best friend were currently on the fritz.

By the time classes ended that day, Kurt was ready to head home and go straight to bed. He passed Blaine in the hall on the way to his car and the two shared a quick glance at one another. Kurt couldn't help but notice the way Blaine's hazel eyes flickered with what looked like a hint of sadness before he downcast his eyes and went on down the hall.

And that look would haunt Kurt all the way home.

* * *

><p>Friday night was something that both Kurt and Blaine enjoyed - in different ways, of course.<p>

Kurt had his Friday night dinners with his dad, Carole, and Finn. Blaine had dinner with his Dalton buddies, followed by a movie or game night in the common room. Sometimes, if the week hadn't gone so great for either boy, they would haul themselves up in their rooms, listening to show tunes or finishing up some weekend homework.

For Kurt, that Friday evening, he went about his usual weekend ritual. He came home, showered, changed into comfy, yet fashionable clothes, and planned weekend outfits until dinner time rolled around.

For Blaine, everything went slowly. He got take-out for dinner, sat in his room and practiced his Regional solos, and then spent the rest of the evening reflecting on the weird look he and Kurt shared in the hall earlier that evening.

He would spend the rest of the evening thinking of Kurt's glasz eyes, even as he slept.

* * *

><p>"Morning Pav," Kurt greeted as plopped down at his seat at the vanity. He popped open the lids of a couple bottles of moisturizer and set to mixing the lotions to apply to his face. As he rubbed the creams into his skin, he whistled a gentle tune under his breath, smiling when he heard a tiny canary chirp in harmony with him.<p>

It was their usual morning routine and it was something that Kurt enjoyed very much.

Smoothing some lotion into his neck and then his cheekbones, Kurt finished up his routine before deciding to file his fingernails. As he ran the smoother along his nails, he whistled a little diddy and waited for Pavarotti to echo the sound. He barely heard a cheep come from the cage before it was followed by a small thump.

Everything was silent after that.

"Pavarotti?"

Kurt cocked his head to the side, eyes glancing over to the golden cage that sat next to his vanity. There at the bottom of the cage was Pav's tiny yellow body; little feet sticking straight up in the air.

"Oh my god, Pav!"

With a gasp, Kurt threw himself from his seat and landed in front of the cage, opening the small door with ease. He hesitated as he stared at the motionless body before him. Pavarotti didn't move from his position at the bottom and from what it looked like, he wasn't going to get up.

Feeling tears start to brim in his eyes, Kurt brought a hand to his trembling lips as he reached his other hand into the cage to touch the frozen body.

There was no movement.

Pavarotti was dead.

* * *

><p>It was only fitting that the tiny Warbler was given a memorial service fit for a king.<p>

There was so much for Kurt to be thankful for when it came to the bird. Pavarotti was a friend to him, a confidante that listened to him and never judged (_as if he could_, though Kurt pushed the snaky thoughts from his mind whenever they popped up). Without Pav, who knows how long Kurt would've lasted at Dalton? He spent the first few weeks trudging along, allowing the waves of Dalton to drag him out into the deep end, farther and farther.

Pavarotti helped keep him anchored.

The little bird was his voice. Pav represented him, as silly as it seemed. Kurt was so lost when he first came to Dalton. Sure, he had Blaine, but there were times when Blaine seemed to be too perfect to be true - everyone at Dalton _loved_ Blaine; he was their resident rock star - and to be honest, sometimes Blaine intimidated the hell out of Kurt, especially in the first few weeks of Dalton life. Now things weren't as scary to him as they were then, but Kurt owed that pleasure to Pavarotti. He was able to come home and rant and rave to Pav about school, about the Warblers, and especially about Blaine Anderson and his perfect, Ken-doll self.

And Pav listened.

Now Pavarotti was dead; there wasn't going to be someone there to listen to Kurt anymore. The once caged bird was now gone, free to fly away to birdie heaven (though Kurt was an atheist, he found himself imagining a cloudy oasis where birds of all kinds could fly freely). Pav could sing happily among the souls of other lost birds and not be silenced by the bars of a golden, yet _safe _cage.

The thought alone comforted Kurt.

Wiping a stray tear from his eye, the mourning boy yelled for his stepmother, who came rushing into the room as quick as she could. She raised a brow at the watery eyed boy before her, "What's wrong?"

"Pavarotti is dead."

"Oh honey," Carole took a look at the motionless canary at the bottom of the cage and sighed, "I'm so sorry."

"Do you have a box I could put him in? I don't know what to do with him."

"Are you going to bury him?"

"Yes, I suppose so. I just need something to bury him in."

Nodding, Carole left the room and returned moments later with an old tattered shoe box. A frown befell her features as she stood in the doorway, biting her lip. "This is all I have."

"It will do for now, I guess." Kurt stood up and took the old box from her before he began layering old newspapers into the bottom. "I don't want to bury him in this, so I think I'll buy a jewelry box or something at the craft store later."

"That sounds like a lovely idea. Are you going to bury him here?"

To be honest, Kurt had never even thought about that. Lima was Pavarotti's home; he lived with Kurt for months, but the more Kurt reflected on it: Dalton was Pav's original home. He deserved to be buried there. Explaining his reasoning to Carole, Kurt removed the bird's small body from the cage and wrapped him up in an old washrag spritzed with his cologne. Pav seemed to be fond of the scent - always chirping when Kurt sprayed it on himself in the mornings.

"Burying him at Dalton would be best. I suppose I'll have to do it soon. I just don't know what to do with the little guy until then."

"You could always leave him in the basement. It's cooler down there and it's a lot nicer than storing him in the freezer. I'm afraid of what could happen if Finn were to find him in the ice box…"

Kurt nodded, a slight chuckle taking over his lips. Pressing a quick kiss to the closed shoe box, he stood and made his way downstairs to store Pavarotti's temporary casket away from the heat of the rest of the house. The still blistery coldness of March and the chill of the basement would keep things from decomposing too quick, Kurt hoped.

Sighing, he climbed the stairs back up to his bedroom and once inside, stepped into his closet to glance at his wardrobe. He was going to give Pavarotti the canary the greatest memorial a bird had ever been given; it was only fitting that the songbird was memorialized in song and Kurt knew exactly what he was going to sing. Grabbing up an old cassette of his mother's from the back of his closet as well as picking out the perfect outfit, Kurt started to get ready to head off to Warbler practice at Dalton.

He was going to march into practice late and if Wes and the rest of the council said anything, they could kiss his ass. This was a family emergency and there was no way he was going to make it on time to practice!

Doo-wopping behind Blaine Anderson could wait too, in his opinion. Pavarotti deserved his due and Kurt Hummel was going to give it to him, Blaine's hurt feelings or not.

* * *

><p>Wes looked livid when he saw that Kurt wasn't on time to practice. He spent the first few minutes of the period twirling his gavel in his fingertips as if he was trying to calm himself down. Hell, even when the Warblers dissolved into mortal chaos over Blaine's suggestion about their competition attire, Wes still seemed distant. It wasn't until the choir doors burst open and Kurt strode into the room sans Dalton issued attire that things seemed like they were about to get juicy.<p>

Well, until Kurt opened his mouth…

"_Pavarotti is dead."_

The exclamation knocked Blaine back a good one. He sat there in his seat, staring at Kurt with wide eyes as his best friend stared sadly at the rest of the Warblers. He wasn't expecting something like this to have happened. The little Warbler seemed fine the last time Blaine had seen him just days prior; now he was dead.

His voice was silenced for good; his candle snuffed out forever.

Feeling his stomach churn, Blaine watched and listened as Kurt opened his mouth and started to sing a song dedicated to his lost friend. Blaine stared on for a moment until a few voices around him began to harmonize with the countertenor. Closing his eyes, Blaine zoomed in on his harmony and added his voice to the mix, listening closely at how well his background vocals blended in with Kurt's lovely soprano.

They sounded beautiful together.

Blaine glanced up then, gaze focusing in on Kurt as his best friend walked around the room slowly, voice raising in memorial of his feathered buddy. The other boy's light eyes brimmed with tears that reflected like crystal in the morning sunlight. His jet black funeral ensemble caused his pale skin to stand out gorgeously and the way he held himself made Blaine's gut tingle in a way that it had never jumped before.

_Oh God…_

As Kurt got closer to the council's table, Blaine felt his voice drop out of the harmonies. He grew speechless as he watched his friend sing out the last few verses of the chorus, watery eyes shining in the sun. _Those same, gorgeous eyes that had been haunting him for days._ Precious air caught in Blaine's throat as he stared at the other boy; Kurt was just so outstandingly _beautiful_ - something that Blaine had noticed long, long ago, but never seemed to appreciate until now.

_Oh my God…_

Memories from a week or so ago and the discussion that went down between Blaine, David, and Wes bloomed in his mind:

_"So you think you like him then?"_

_"I've always liked him," Blaine mumbled lowly as he dropped his gaze to the ground. "I just don't know what I'm feeling now."_

_"Is it love, perhaps?"_

_"I… umm… I don't think so. I'm not really sure what it is."_

Blaine knew what it was now.

Sitting there in the Warbler rehearsal hall, watching as Kurt received pity glances and sad looks from the rest of his friends, watching as his best friend stood at the front of the room, wiping away tears from his ice blue eyes, watching as the boy he once friend-zoned broke out of his Dalton shell and dazzled the room as _Kurt Hummel _and Kurt Hummel alone, Blaine Anderson had a revelation.

_He was in love with his best friend._

* * *

><p><span>AN: OKAY, I did it! I killed off Pav (insert my river of tears here). It was hard to do, but it had to be done so that I could get to the pinnacle of this thing: the revelation of Blaine. We all knew this was coming, lol, so there it is! There's much more to go in this fic and I hope you weren't disappointed in this chapter! Please review and thanks so much to those of you who review each time. Reviews are amazing and I always get a little giddy when I see that I've gotten one! OH, and if you are looking for a new read, I have a new one-shot out called 'Goodbye' (insert my pimping out of new fic here, ha). It's pretty sad and tragic, so if you are into that sort of stuff, feel free to stop on by!


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the continuation/sequel fic to my other story _Sometimes You Need More Than Courage _(SYNMTC). You can read this without having to read the other fic, if you'd like, but there may be some things from that previous story that will show up in this one (so by suggestion, I recommend reading SYNMTC and then reading this so you won't be confused). Anyways, this takes place a little bit before and during the episode _Original Song_.

* * *

><p>"Thank you."<p>

Kurt stood before the Warblers, eyes still glistening with tears as the last few notes of Blackbird held still in the air. Around the room, weary eyes stared up at him as he brushed a few stray water droplets from his cheeks and made his way towards his usual seat on one of the couches.

"Umm, Kurt?" David interrupted, stopping the saddened boy from sitting down. "Don't worry about practice today. Warblers rehearsal will be cancelled for the rest of the day, in honor of Pavarotti - may he rest in peace."

The other Warblers murmured in agreement as they all stood from their seats and went to offer Kurt their condolences. Some of the guys regaled Kurt with tales of their own memories of Pavarotti as well as stories about Pavarotti's predecessors. As the other guys kept him busy, Kurt was unable to notice Blaine sneak out of the rehearsal hall.

* * *

><p><em>Oh my God.<em>

_Oh my God…_

Blaine tugged helplessly at his tie as he tore through the halls of Dalton. Everything seemed to be closing around him as he stumbled down the empty corridors. His breaths were labored, his sight was blurry, and his heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest at any minute.

_Was this what love felt like?_

He had never felt as flustered as he did at that very moment. Not once during his crush on Jeremiah had Blaine felt these conflicting feelings bubbling up in his belly. Not once during his silly junior high crush on his best friend had he felt so happy, yet so terrified.

He was just a cluster of emotions, a cluster of confused feelings.

Blaine truly, madly, deeply cared about Kurt.

And it scared the living daylights out of him.

Groaning, the boy threw open the door of his dormitory and fell into the threshold, kicking the door shut behind him as he collapsed on the floor.

* * *

><p>"Have you guys seen Blaine?"<p>

Kurt glanced around the emptying room, eyes taking in each and every Warbler as they exited, not one of them looking anything like Blaine Anderson. The council stood off to the side, also looking out for Blaine, but none of them saw him either.

"I think he left out of here a few minutes ago," Jeff spoke up, gesturing towards the open doors. "It was after David cancelled practice. He kinda just got up and left. He looked like he was going to be sick or something. I dunno."

"Sick?"

Kurt bit his lip, staring down the hallway that led through the maze that was Dalton Academy. Blaine could be anywhere right now: in his dorm, in one of the common rooms, perhaps in one of the bathrooms. He thought about trying to call Blaine, but remembered his phone was still in his car, so that option was out. Still gnawing on his lip, he turned to Jeff, "Do you think you could call or text Blaine for me? I left my phone in the car and I would like to talk to him."

Jeff nodded, pulling his cell phone from his blazer. He pressed a number on his speed dial and waited, but nothing happened. Rolling his eyes, he sent a text to the missing boy and waited for a response.

He got nothing.

"I don't think Blaine's gonna answer, guys. I tried calling and texting him, but I haven't gotten a response."

Kurt nodded and walked across the room to gather his tape from the cassette player. "I'll just try to call him later then. I don't feel like going on a wild goose chase right now. I've got to go find a casket for Pavarotti and…" He trailed off, feeling the oh-so-familiar burning feeling behind his eyes.

"It's okay, Kurt." David whispered, sensing Kurt's distress. "We'll try to find Blaine and we'll have him call you or something. You get home."

"Yeah, but if you need anything, you can call one of us, alright? Pav was a friend to all of us," Jeff added, patting Kurt's shoulder.

Taking a look at his friends, Kurt gave them a sad smile and bid them goodbye, leaving Dalton with a heavy heart and tears in his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Blaine, are you in there? You won't pick up the phone. You won't answer the door. What in the world has gotten into you? Are you sick? Are you okay? Will you just answer the door?"<p>

Frantic knocking could be heard outside the closed door of Blaine's dorm room. The boy in question lay on the floor, hands laced over his stomach as he stared up at the ceiling. He could have easily answered the person knocking, but his heart was pounding so hard that he instead lay still and said nothing. He was sure whatever he said wouldn't be understandable anyway - it would probably come out as nonsensical gibberish.

"Blaine? If you can hear me and you are alright, make some sort of noise, please? Nick is freaking out and I'm getting close to breaking into your room and-"

He kicked the door.

"Wait, so you can hear me?"

Another kick.

"Are you alright?"

Kick.

"If you are a-okay, Blaine, kick the door twice. If you need help, kick it once."

Two kicks.

"Oh, thank God! …do you want me to let everyone know you are okay?"

Two more kicks.

"Is that a yes?"

Another two kicks.

Outside the door, Jeff sighed. "I guess you're alright then. Jesus Christ, Blaine, you've had us worried for hours now. First the thing with Pavarotti and Kurt-"

Blaine's stomach flipped upon hearing Kurt's name.

"-and then this thing with you disappearing! We were worried, you know? But I'll let the guys know that you aren't dead or anything. We can't have you kicking the bucket before Regionals, you know? I mean, can you imagine: the lead soloist of the Warblers dying before Regionals? That would suck and-" Jeff quieted. "Oh, I should probably shut up about this death stuff… you know, with Pav and all. Well, crap. Now I feel awful."

Blaine kicked the door again.

"I'm just gonna go now, Blaine, before I make anyone else feel terrible. Good night."

Blaine waited until he heard Jeff move away from his door before he sat up and leaned against the wall. He looked up at the mounted wall clock across the room and noted that it had been hours since he had moved from his bedroom floor. Practice had been sometime that morning and here it was after dinnertime. If his mind wasn't so jumbled, Blaine imagined he would've been starving - but considering the nausea that had been plaguing him since _Blackbird_, he was sure he wouldn't be able to eat anyways.

Groaning, he stood up and made his way across the room, flopping down onto his bed as his legs gave out from beneath him. For some odd reason, everything felt heavy to him - his brain, his body, and especially his heart. As he rolled into the depths of his mattress, he realized that he was still wearing his uniform - something that he _never_ slept in. Sighing, he slid off his blazer and tossed his loose tie onto the floor as he kicked off his shoes.

"What is wrong with me?"

Blaine leaned back against his pillows, curling his body into the blankets. As he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his heart clenched at the familiar smell of _Kurt_, so clean and citrus-y, still cemented in the linens.

_I love him._

Images of Kurt throughout the past few months flicked through his mind like a movie being replayed over and over. Memories of the two of them sharing coffee at the Lima Bean, memories of them sitting in the common room flicking through old issues of Vogue, memories of them singing to one another during performances… they all played through Blaine's mind like a video.

All this time.

All this time Kurt had been right in front of his eyes and Blaine had overlooked him each time… and now, boom - there he was.

_Oh, there you are… I've been looking for you forever._

* * *

><p><span>AN: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!

Seriously, I know you guys are probably wanting my head on a platter and believe me, I would too, but hear me out: I am very, very sorry. As usual, life just got in the way of me updating. I was trying to keep up with this story, as well as finish up _Confused_ (of which I did, so if you were reading that, it's done btw). Then I got a few ideas for some one-shots and drabbles based on a few episodes of Season 3 (let me just say that S3 has had its ups and downs for me - quite a few downs more than ups, enough to make me wish I was a Glee writer *insert sigh here*). In the midst of all this, I got sick (from past A/Ns, you guys have probably already guessed that I'm ALWAYS sick and that's true). So I've been bouncing from specialist to specialist - doctor to doctor to hospital and back - trying to figure out why my immune system is failing me. And so far I know nothing.

So I really haven't had time to write and for that I apologize profusely. I'm hoping within these next few weeks to get things finished up with this story, as well as post more of this verse (meaning SYNMTC - of which I have revamped a few chapters and am planning on revamping the later ones as well) and a few more stories I have in mind (mostly angst future fics and the like).

So, if you've gotten out of this story due to the lack of updates, I hope you can come back and hop on the bandwagon with me because believe me, you aren't the only ones who have forgotten the story. I have too and I hope to fix that!

Thanks for reading and dealing with me. I hope you leave a review! :]


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the continuation/sequel fic to my other story _Sometimes You Need More Than Courage _(SYNMTC). You can read this without having to read the other fic, if you'd like, but there may be some things from that previous story that will show up in this one (so by suggestion, I recommend reading SYNMTC and then reading this so you won't be confused). Anyways, this takes place a little bit before and during the episode _Original Song_.

* * *

><p><em>Love<em> just wasn't something that Blaine was used to.

Sure, he loved his parents, but that was different. And yeah, he believed that they loved him - they had to, they were his parents, right? Parents were supposed to love their children no matter what and even though Blaine's parents had some issues with his homosexuality, they at least had some sort of semblance of care for him - they did pay his cell phone bill and Dalton tuition after all.

But their expression of _love_ - if that's what you could call it - wasn't something that Blaine counted, especially since his parents barely expressed it. The _love_ he was talking about now was a romantic sort of thing and it was something that he had just never experienced in his short lifetime.

With his first major crush, Blaine had butterflies in his stomach and that was about it. He loved the way Joshua's hair fell in front of his eyes and the way he dressed and acted. With Jeremiah, Blaine had the same feelings: butterflies and too obvious blushing. But not once with either of them had he ever felt like he had been bulldozed over by a Mac truck.

Which was what he was feeling like now, especially since his entire mindset seemed to flip to images of Kurt and Kurt only.

All night Blaine tossed and turned in his bed; Kurt's face, voice, and actions played behind his eyelids like an old fashioned movie. If his stomach hadn't churned so much throughout the evening, Blaine probably would've been able to fall asleep easily. Instead, he laid underneath the covers, eyes staring off into darkness as he questioned his own stupidity over the last few months.

For the longest time, he ignored the strange twist in the bottom of his stomach that occurred at random moments involving Kurt. The first time it happened, it was after he turned around on the staircase that fateful day in November, the very first time he laid eyes on Kurt. He remembered glancing up and seeing this boy standing there looking so lost and out of place. The fact that he wasn't wearing the standard issue Dalton uniform gave him away immediately, but Blaine couldn't exactly pinpoint why the guy was actually there. Of course, later on he found out that Kurt was there to spy, but it only look him a glance to see that there was something wrong.

That was the second time his stomach clenched: seeing tears in Kurt's eyes.

It was something that Blaine never thought he'd hate to see. Sure, he hates it when people cry or when they're just upset in general, but for some odd reason, seeing those expressive eyes glisten with tears hurt Blaine's heart more than he'd probably ever admit.

Obviously there were more times when Blaine found himself experiencing stomach pains - like during Kurt's sectional solo audition or the day he got a frantic text from the other boy about the well being of Pavarotti-

_Oh God, Pavarotti._

Blaine rolled onto his side and curled up in a ball at the thought of the dead bird. He wondered how Kurt was doing and if he was upset that Blaine hadn't bothered to stick around after practice ended yesterday. Honestly, Blaine would've stayed if he hadn't felt like he was going to throw up all over himself at that time. It was like he went from accepting that he was in love with Kurt to being scared shitless. It wasn't like he could've just went up to Kurt after his song and professed his love or anything. Kurt was still visibly upset and Blaine was scared to death of telling Kurt about his newfound feelings.

Plus, there was the problem of _Kurt has had feelings for you forever, revealed on Valentine's Day no less, and all you did was blow him off with the excuse that you didn't know what the hell you were doing_.

Uncurling from the fetal position, Blaine pressed his fists into his eyes and groaned. For all he knew, Kurt could be completely over him now. Fuck, just the other day the two of them had a moment in the hall where Kurt called him out over being a solo hog. That hadn't ended well and just the memory of Kurt's 'Blaine and the Pips' comment caused Blaine's heart to twinge a little bit out of sadness.

Kurt wouldn't have thought of those things if he wasn't annoyed with Blaine just a little bit. So, it was only right that the other boy had moved on from his romantic feelings about Blaine.

_Ugh_, just thinking about that made him want to puke.

Blaine slammed his hands down on the mattress and took in the bright, sunny bedroom with narrowed eyes. Dawn had come way too quickly and soon, boys from all over the dorms would be heading down to Sunday brunch and no doubt, people would be knocking on his door to see if he was planning on eating.

In reality, all he wanted to do was be left alone with his thoughts.

Sighing, Blaine rolled onto his stomach and let one of his arms dangle over the edge of the bed. He stared across the room at his corkboard of photos and gulped when his eyes fell onto a picture of him and Kurt that was taken a week before Christmas.

_Christmas, _another one of those occasions when he felt that familiar twisting in the pit of his belly. It came while he was shopping for a Christmas gift for Kurt, as well as when they went Christmas caroling with the Warblers. Hell, it even popped up when he had Kurt help him practice for his show at Kings' Island.

_Why didn't he realize it then? What took him so long?_

Why didn't he realize that the thing he was feeling had to do with the fact that he genuinely _liked _Kurt? Why didn't he understand that not once had he felt something like that with Joshua or Jeremiah or even Rachel (as _ugh_ worthy as that dark moment in time was) for that matter? Why didn't he get it that he felt something for Kurt since the moment he laid eyes on him?

Kurt had been _the one _since he first looked into those stunning blue-grey eyes and Blaine hadn't even known it.

He was _so_ stupid.

* * *

><p>"Kurt, sweetie, do you want anything special for breakfast this morning?"<p>

Carole hesitantly stood in the doorway, her green eyes sparked with a hint of sadness as she stared down at her stepson. Kurt was currently sitting at his vanity, eyes locked onto the empty birdcage that sat nearby. A few lone yellow feathers sat at the bottom of the cage, along with a speckling of broken open seeds and berries - evidence that a bird had lived there at one point in time.

"Kurt?"

Carole waited patiently for her stepson to answer, but the boy said nothing and instead continued staring at Pavarotti's old home.

"I'll bring you some warm milk."

Kurt waited until his stepmother was out of the room before he stood up and picked up the birdcage. Slowly, he carried it across the room and set it on his dresser, opening up the tiny gold door to reach inside and gather out all of Pav's old things. He grabbed up Pav's food dishes and wooden chewies, followed by his climb ladder and treats. It felt so odd cleaning out the cage, especially since Kurt could remember the exact day he put all of the items in there for Pav, but it had to be done. Pavarotti was dead; he would have no use for these items anymore.

For a few moments longer, Kurt busied himself with cleaning the cage spotless. He shook out the half-eaten seeds and fuzzy feather bits into the trash (but kept a few of Pav's discarded feathers for himself - perhaps he'd make something in homage to the bird in the future), then placed the cleaned dishes and toys back into the cage. He'd take it back to Dalton on Monday so that the next Warbler newbie had a beautiful, readily stocked cage for his future canary pet.

He just hoped that whomever the next Warbler was would treat their own Pavarotti like he treated his.

_Oh Pav…_

Kurt deposited the cleaned birdcage next to his messenger bag and then made his way towards his bed. Deaths had always taken a lot out of him, even animal deaths if that made any sense. When he was little and his mother had bought him a goldfish for his birthday, he was very upset when he found it belly-up just a few hours after he tried to give it hot tea. Later on he realized that he had practically boiled the poor creature to death, but when he was just a kid, he had no idea what happened. He spent hours in his mom's arms, sobbing over the fact that he didn't have a fish anymore, while the gentle woman whispered her apologies in his ear.

He really missed her at a time like this.

Yes, Pavarotti was just a silly bird. Most people wouldn't even get worked up over something as trivial as a bird (or so he assumed), but for Kurt, this loss was something that he just couldn't handle right now. After all that had occurred to get him to transfer to Dalton, Kurt needed someone to confide in. His mother had been long gone for years and his father didn't need the stress, so that's where _Blaine_ came in.

But when it came to confiding to someone _about_ Blaine, Kurt felt himself at a loss. He could talk to his dad, sure, but he just wasn't at that comfort level of discussing his crushes with his father yet. Then there were his girlfriends from McKinley. Usually he could go to them with anything, but as time went on and the threat of Regionals came up, Kurt's free time was usually spent sleeping or catching up on homework, _not_ chatting with his McKinley friends.

Oh yeah, and there was Carole too. She had become a pretty awesome confidante over the last few months, especially since she married Kurt's father, but even things between the two of them were strained. Especially since Carole took on more hours at work and was rarely home when Kurt was (_thanks Dalton Academy_). So all that Kurt really had left was himself and talking to yourself isn't that fun at all.

But that's where Pavarotti came in and he was an _amazing_ listener.

Kurt could come in from a hard day at school and just talk and talk and talk. In the meantime, Pav would stay silent, his beady little eyes just watching as Kurt threw his Dalton uniform across the room. Occasionally, the canary would chirp and bounce around, asking to be out of his cage, and Kurt would oblige, allowing the bird to hop around on his bed as he changed into some comfy clothes. He would watch as Pav fluttered his tiny wings and perched himself on the vanity, singing happily as Kurt hummed to himself. It was an unwinding time for the both of them and it was something that Kurt would truly miss.

Sighing, Kurt laid back on his bed and closed his eyes. He lay still for a few moments, just listening to the sound of the snowy wind beating against his window. He didn't move, not even when he heard the sound of Carole tip-toeing into the room with a glass of warm milk.

He just needed some time to cope, that's all. Just a little bit of time… _alone_.

* * *

><p>"Blaine, have you figured out what songs you want to sing for Regionals?"<p>

"You know we're doing Pink songs, right? Which ones do you think you would wanna sing?"

"I think you could rock any of Pink's songs, to be honest."

"Hey Blaine… are you okay? You ran out of the hall really fast yesterday."

The Warblers were staring up at Blaine expectantly. The poor guy hadn't even had the time to settle down into his seat when he was suddenly barraged with questions from all around the table. The council and underclassmen alike were watching him with curious eyes, everyone wondering why Blaine had disappeared so suddenly yesterday after Kurt's song. Blaine ignored the group and stabbed a mound of scrambled eggs with his fork, slowly popping a forkful into his mouth.

Ugh, he wasn't even that hungry.

Frowning, he set his fork down and stared at the plate with disgust. His stomach was still churning wildly with nausea as more thoughts of Kurt filled his mind - especially thoughts of the expression Kurt had when the council announced Blaine's win of the Regionals solos. Kurt had seemed so upset, angry even. Just the reminder of that day made Blaine want to shove his breakfast away, get up, and go back into his room to mope.

This entire ordeal was starting to suck.

"So, Blaine-" Wes started, slicing up a piece of French toast. "We're holding a Warbler meeting on Monday after school to discuss your choice of songs for the Pink medley. The sooner you tell us, the faster we can sort out the background vocals. We'll need to know by then so that we have enough time to practice. If you haven't noticed, we're a little bit behind schedule with-"

"I'll let you know what I decide as soon as I can, Wes. I just… I can't right now, ok?"

The Warblers sitting at the table quit eating and turned to stare at Blaine with wide eyes. They had never seen Blaine look the way he did now, not even after the incident with the failed serenading of that Gap guy. Blaine just seemed a little off. He was staring down at his breakfast like it had offended him or something and he looked dead tired.

"Did you get any sleep last night, Anderson?" David asked, leaning closer to Blaine. He watched as Blaine shook his head negatively and pushed his plate forward.

"No, I just don't feel well right now. Sorry guys, I'm just going to head back to my room and try to rest. You guys can fight over my food if you want," he stood up, scooting himself away from the group of observing eyes. "I'll be fine by Monday, I promise. Just let me be."

"Are you sure, Blaine? Because we can-"

"I'm fine."

Blaine stepped away from the table and made his way out of the dining hall. Behind him, he could hear the Warblers break out into immediate discussion - each of them wondering what in the world had gotten into their star soloist. As he got closer to the exit, he overheard one thing slip out of Trent's mouth.

"If he is really sick, what are we going to do? Without Blaine, we're screwed!"

Kurt was right: the Warblers _did_ revolve around him… and it wasn't something that Blaine Anderson was sure he could really stand anymore.

* * *

><p><span>AN: Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Thanks for reading! :]


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days!

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

* * *

><p>"Good morning."<p>

Kurt waved back at the person who greeted him and continued on his way down the corridor. Ever since he stepped foot in Dalton that morning, he had been called out to left and right from random classmates and fellow Warblers; each of them taking a moment to bid him good day or to offer their condolences over the death of Pavarotti. Honestly, Kurt would have rather ignored everyone and just went on his way, but he didn't want to seem rude, especially since everyone was being so polite with their sympathy. So he just let them come, express their sadness, and move on. He gave what he could in return - slight smiles and the like - but that was it. He wasn't about to plaster on a fake happy face when he was feeling like crap on the inside.

He just needed to drop off Pav's old cage and then maybe the questioning stares and the _'I'm so sorry's _would finally stop.

As he rounded the corner towards the rehearsal hall, his eyes caught a glance of a very annoyed looking Blaine heading up the staircase. The boy was holding onto his messenger bag with a tight grip and his jaw was firmly locked. Something was obviously going on with him, but Kurt was not about to go out of his way to find out. He was still a little irked about Blaine running off after Blackbird the other day, so if his friend had some sort of issue that needed sorting out, he would have to do it on his own without Kurt's help.

Mumbling under his breath, Kurt pushed the door open to the rehearsal hall and stepped inside the empty room, taking in the darkness of the area. He let his eyes wander over each and every part of the room; there were so many memories made in here over the last few months. He remembered the day he was given Pavarotti to take care of and the days after that when he brought the tiny bird in to hang out with the Warblers during practice. The short time he spent with the bird was something he'd always remember and just standing there in the hall alone with an empty birdcage made Kurt realize how much he was really going to miss little old Pav.

* * *

><p>Blaine threw himself into his desk seat with a loud groan, causing half of the room to look over at him curiously.<p>

"You okay, Blaine?" Jeff asked as he slid into the desk next to him. Blaine looked up and shook his head negatively, then looked back towards the classroom entrance to watch the last batch of students trickle in before the bell sounded. Jeff took his further silence as a _'do not test me' _attitude and went about gathering up his homework to turn in; if Blaine wasn't in the mood to talk, he just wasn't in the mood to talk. Jeff and the other learned that long ago when the boy first transferred to Dalton - he wasn't about to push his luck with Blaine right now.

A few more minutes ticked by and finally, right before the bell rang, Kurt slipped into the room, taking an empty seat near the front of the classroom. When he failed to come back and sit in his usual seat, Jeff's mouth fell open and he glanced towards Blaine hoping to catch a glimpse of the other boy's face in light of Kurt's choice.

What he saw shocked him: Blaine looked _relieved_ that Kurt took a seat up front and not next to him.

_Hmm, that's unusual, _Jeff thought to himself. He would spend the rest of the class period watching Kurt barely pay attention to the teacher and observing how Blaine stared at the back of Kurt's head like it offended him somehow.

* * *

><p>Classes were going by so slowly.<p>

Kurt was half-dead by the time lunch hour rolled around. He had barely paid attention in any of his classes, nor had he really cared to do so. The lack of sleep he had over the weekend was catching up to him and he found himself stifling yawn after yawn in one class after the other. He was definitely going to have to hit the sack earlier that evening if he even wanted to be functioning tomorrow.

Reaching into his blazer pocket, Kurt took out his student ID and scanned it for the lunch lady, then headed into the dining hall. He took a seat at his usual table - one that the Warblers usually took over, but instead of sitting next to Blaine, he sat between Luka and Nick. Blaine, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.

"Has anyone seen Blaine? I asked him about his selections for Regionals this morning and he told me he'd let me know as soon as possible, but I haven't been able to find him since."

"He was in class this morning," one of the underclassmen spoke up. "I saw him in the hall before I got here. He was staring out the window; he seemed kinda angry."

"Tell me about it," Jermaine added, "I asked him how the song selection was going and I thought he was going to scream at me. He certainly didn't seem too enthused."

"Maybe he's just having a bad day?" Kurt said softly, all eyes turning to him when he spoke. He looked up and found the Warblers staring at him like he had grown two heads. "What? I'm just trying to give a possible explanation as to why Blaine is acting the way he is."

"So that means you don't know then?" Thad asked, instantly curious.

"No, if you guys don't remember, I had other things to deal with other than finding out what's wrong with Blaine." The comment came out sounding bitter and venomous. Kurt almost shocked himself with how vicious he sounded, especially since he hadn't made a nasty moment like that since he left McKinley. However, the more he thought about it, the more he attributed it to the fact that he was still hurt by what happened with Pavarotti, as well as still a bit irked with Blaine. Sighing, he rested his forehead on his palm and closed his eyes.

"Sorry I snapped at you like that, Thad. I'm just-"

"We understand, Kurt. No hard feelings," David soothed, the other Warblers nodding in agreement with him. "There's just been a lot going on lately. Everyone had their off days and I'm sure that today is one of Blaine's off ones. We're sorry for pestering you about it. We just assumed that you might know and that was wrong of us."

"Thank you."

The conversation stalled after that. Everyone went back to eating and that was that. Well, for the most part… Kurt, on the other hand, went back to poking at his lunch and thinking about Pav, how much he missed his mother, and Blaine.

* * *

><p>Blaine skipped lunch.<p>

He couldn't bear to stomach any sort of food, especially at the rate his mind was racing. Because he had been so caught up in his thoughts over the weekend, he found himself nauseous and disoriented. Just the thought of food threw him for a loop, so he turned those thoughts away and focused on the one thing he felt needed the most emphasis: his relationship with Kurt.

He had to tell Kurt how he felt, even if the outcome wasn't going to be in his favor.

All weekend Blaine had spent thinking and dreaming about Kurt, about the two of them together as more than friends. They were thoughts that he once never imagined entertaining; now they were the only things he could conjure up.

Sighing, Blaine ran a hand through his hair and groaned when he realized that he had just jacked up the hour of work he had put into the hairstyle. He stood up, gathering up his school bag, and exited the library - destination: his dorm room.

He had some serious hair fixage to attend to and maybe he could take the rest of the lunch hour to perfect his _'I'm in love with you' _speech to Kurt.

* * *

><p>The hour that Blaine had taken to fix his hair and collect his thoughts ended up turning into an all-day event. By the time he had finally sorted out his ideas and formed his hair back into its usual well-sculpted self, the afternoon class periods had already ended and it was time for Warbler rehearsal.<p>

A frantic text from Jeff asking where Blaine had disappeared to alerted him that he needed to scurry his butt down to practice before the council skinned him alive. So, grabbing up his bag and some courage, Blaine went on his way to the lion's den, ready to face whatever the Warblers had in store for him.

* * *

><p>Kurt leaned back in his seat on the couch and watched as his choir mates argued with one another.<p>

Blaine still hadn't returned from wherever the hell he disappeared to earlier in the day and the council was getting antsy. Jeff was texting their missing star like a mad man, relaying back to the room that Blaine wasn't responding. Wes was about to send David up to fetch Blaine when Mr. Disappearing Act himself stepped into the hall. From Kurt's perspective, Blaine looked a little bit winded and super exhausted - it wasn't a look that Kurt was used to seeing on his friend.

"You okay?" He whispered to Blaine as the other boy took a seat nearby. Blaine just stared at him for a moment before nodding quickly. He didn't say anything…

And he wouldn't until people started arguing over his choice of songs for Regionals.

"You know, I think Blaine's version of the song is actually better than the original." Thad said, looking back and forth between Wes and David after Blaine suggested a Katy Perry number instead of second Pink song. The Warblers had already chosen _Raise Your Glass _as a number, but it was up to Blaine to choose the second song and obviously he wasn't too game on another Pink track.

David seemed less enthused with this idea, "But it's not in his natural key so-"

"How dare you!" Trent exclaimed. Kurt leaned his head against his hand and kept his eyes closed. He could feel the beginnings of another fight over Blaine's stardom coming along and he really wasn't in the mood for it. However, seconds after Trent's brazen back talk, Blaine huffed in his own response.

"_Enough_. I'm tired of this."

Thad nodded, turning his attention towards Blaine. "I agree." He stated, "I think we should just let you pick the song that you want to sing."

If Kurt would've had his eyes opened, the guys would've seen him rolling them at Thad's blatant butt kissing.

"No," Blaine muttered. Kurt opened up his eyes. "I'm tired of the Warblers being all about me." As soon as those words left his mouth, Kurt felt his heart stop. _What was Blaine saying? _"David, please make sure everything I'm about to say goes down in the official minutes-"

He paused and Kurt took a long breath, eagerly anticipating what Blaine was about to say.

"We are going to lose at Regionals."

The room erupted into chaos.

* * *

><p>Blaine could feel everyone's eyes on him, even Kurt's, which unnerved him.<p>

He had just spoken his mind about the Warblers' Regionals chances - he thought they were going to lose. They were planning on going with the same one/two punch that got them a victory at Sectionals: send in Blaine as the soloist for every song and doo-wop and sway behind him like a well-oiled machine.

"_I feel like we're Blaine and the Pips."_

Kurt's words had stayed fresh within Blaine's mind for days and they were booming in his ears throughout the entire day, especially now as the Warblers argued over his choice of song for the competition. It was difficult for him to deal with that on top of the newfound feelings he was having, so he just had to say something. And judging by the people flipping out around him, the thing he said had definitely shaken them up.

_Do some damage control, Blaine. Quickly!_

He opened his mouth, trying to calm the masses with reassurances. He told them about his fears of not being able to beat them with just his voice and how Kurt had told him things about New Directions that made him question lots of stuff. As he talked, he could feel Kurt staring at him and he sincerely hoped that the other boy wasn't getting pissed at him for ratting on what he had been told. They locked eyes as he suggested something unheard of for a Warbler competition number: a duet, and Blaine watched as Kurt nervously darted his gaze away.

The room burst into motion again with people staring at Blaine like he had grown another head. David smartly made a comment about playing their songs on kazoos and Blaine knew he had to do more damage control. He jumped up from his seat, waving his hands around a bit to shush his choir mates as he explained how he felt they could showcase more voices.

At first, his idea was to have two of the other Warblers sing the duet and then he could just sing the lead on _Raise Your Glass_, but as soon as he finished explaining his Pavarotti metaphor and Wes opened up the vote for the duet idea, things came falling into place.

"Oh, can I get my name on that audition list?"

Blaine's heart went into full-on overdrive. He heard Kurt ask to audition and he just had to step in. "No," he said as firmly as he could, trying not to look down at Kurt - of whom he was sure was sending him some sort of 'I'm going to kill you' face. He ignored the icy look he was bound to be getting and continued, "I want to sing the duet with Kurt."

He turned to look at his friend then and was pleasantly surprised when he was met with a look of shock. Kurt was staring up at him, slightly stunned and yet also amused. He tried to bat away the suggestion with some explanation about everyone deserving the chance to try out, but Blaine shut it down before Kurt could go any farther.

Taking his unique position as lead soloist in hand, Blaine asked the Warblers who believed Kurt would be a good duet partner for him. Hands rose quickly from all over the room and Blaine smiled to himself, especially when he caught Wes' knowing smirk from across the room.

"Decided," Wes stated as he slammed the gavel down. Thad offered his congratulations and Blaine took a seat, offering Kurt a cheesy grin as his best friend gaped back at him. He winked and Kurt smiled.

_Things were finally coming together._

* * *

><p>"Blaine, can you stay behind for a moment? Everyone else, you are free to go."<p>

Kurt stood up from the couch and stared at Blaine, who was still sitting in his seat beaming from ear to ear. "I-"

"I don't know what song we're gonna sing, but if you can think of anything, will you let me know?"

"Blaine, I-"

"I've got to meet with the council. Can I meet up with you later about this?"

Kurt bit his lip, "Tomorrow after school then? I've got some stuff I have to finish."

Blaine nodded, "I'll see what I can do." He reached out, patting his hand on Kurt's shoulder before he walked up to the council table. Kurt watched him go before he left the room and practically floated down the hallway and to the parking lot.

He wasn't sure of what just happened in the choir room just now, but it had his heart racing.

_Just don't get your hopes up too much, Kurt, _he warned himself as he climbed into his car. _Blaine's done this to you before. Remember Animal?_

He pushed the negative thoughts out of his head and started up the Navigator. For once, he wasn't _too_ worried about Blaine's intentions with this duet. Knowing his friend, the guy was (probably) strategically using Kurt's voice to an advantage in order to win Regionals and yeah, that was pretty shady sounding, but oh well…

Kurt Hummel was finally going to shine at Regionals.

_Finally. It was about time._

* * *

><p>Wes waited until Kurt was finally out of the room before he rounded on Blaine.<p>

"So you've finally figured out your feelings?"

Blaine blushed, tucking his hands behind his back as he avoided the questioning looks his friends were giving him. Wes smirked and nudged David with his elbow, causing David to laugh out loud.

"You're blushing! You are so head over heels, man. I was wondering when you were going to finally figure out that you had the hots for Hummel."

"David, I don't-"

"Look, he's turning even more red." Wes laughed. Blaine turned away from them and walked towards the exit.

"If you guys are going to make fun of me, then I'm just going to leave."

"Aww, we've hurt his feelings," David dramatically spoke, clutching a hand to his heart. "Go back to your room and sort out whatever cavity inducing duet you want to sing with Kurt. We're gonna need the background vocal arrangements by tomorrow sometime."

"I'll think of something."

"You'd better," Thad warned. "Though I'm sure whatever you pick will be amazing."

Wes and David rolled their eyes and waved Blaine away, watching as the younger boy danced his way down the hall and back towards the dorms.

"You think Kurt is still in love with him?" David asked as the three of them closed up shop. Thad locked the rehearsal hall doors and slipped into step with his friends.

"I don't know. What do you think, Wes?"

Wes tapped his chin with his thumb, looking up into the sky in thought. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I know Kurt's been distancing himself lately, but I've got to say that if we were to go by the looks that Kurt gives Blaine sometimes, the one he gave him today after Blaine said he wanted to duet with him told me that someone is still very much in love with Blaine Anderson."

David laughed, "That's _exactly_ what I was thinking."

* * *

><p><span>AN: KLAINE SOON. _My creys. _Thanks to those of you who did read/review. I appreciate the feedback so much. Please review; I love hearing from you! :]

Also, I've got a new story out there called _Break Me_. It's pretty rough, so be forewarned. I'd love to see what you guys think of it.

OH, and the MJ episode is tomorrow! YAY! I cannot express how excited I am for this episode. First off, it's MICHAEL JACKSON! HELL YEAH! I'm an MJ fanatic (have been since I was a baby and I've never stopped, ever), so I'm uber stoked about this whole thing. Secondly, we're getting Blangst and lord knows that, as a Blaine-stan, I'm all about anything involving Blaine - good or bad, but especially the angst. Give it all to me!

So, if I don't update for a while, it's probably because the MJ episode killed me. If I keel over, I demand that MJ's _Gone Too Soon _be played at my funeral. :]


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also do not own (or am I associated with) the Hobby Lobby. Love the place, don't own it.

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

* * *

><p><em>How hard is it to find multicolored jewels for a bird casket?<em>

Kurt found himself standing in the Hobby Lobby for more than an hour after practice. Sure, most of his time was spent wandering around the store with hearts in his eyes over the thought of his duet with Blaine, but the rest of his time was spent looking for decorations for Pav's little coffin. Sighing, he tossed a few bags of sparkling rainbow jewels into his shopping basket and headed to the checkout. On the way there he spotted a very familiar head of blonde hair go bouncing past him.

"Brittany?"

The blonde turned and jumped as soon as she saw him, immediately rushing over to envelope him in her long arms. "Kurt! I can't believe it's really you!"

"But you just saw me not too long ago-"

She ignored him, "You just have to help me find some stuff for Lord Tubbington's new collar. He told me that he really hates his old one, so I decided to get him a new one. But now he says this one is too plain and if I don't fix it, he'll probably go on a hunger strike and I can't have that happen and-"

Kurt took in a deep breath, trying to allow the millions of words that were slipping from Brittany's mouth be slowly processed in his mind. "You need my help to bedazzle your cat's collar?"

"Yes! Please help? Please, Kurt? You're the only one who knows how to work a Bedazzler!"

It was a tempting offer, a very tempting one. But Kurt got to thinking about his own work that needed to be done on Pav's casket as well as his possible brainstorming for his and Blaine's duet, and he realized that he would have to take a rain check. "Perhaps I can give you some tips on what colors to use and then you can umm-" He paused in thought, "-work with Lord Tubbington on it as a partner project. I bet he'd like that."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Brittany grinned, biting her lower lip in thought. "Okay, let's do that then. Show me what to buy."

So Kurt took her hand and headed back through the aisles of the Hobby Lobby, once again on the lookout for stick on jewels.

* * *

><p>Blaine flipped through the sheet music in the library, brows furrowed as he stumbled over song after song - none of them matching the theme he was wanting to go with for their duet. He wondered if Kurt was having any luck finding a song; so, taking out his phone, he quickly texted the other boy.<p>

_Any luck on duet numbers? -B_

_Not yet. Stuck at the Hobby Lobby with Brittany. You? -K_

_Not much. Let me know if you think of anything. -B_

_Will do. Wish me luck on getting out of this store in one piece! -K_

Well, obviously this song picking thing was going to be more difficult than Blaine thought.

Throwing his hands up in defeat, he shut the file cabinet doors and stalked across the room, dropping into a seat at an empty computer. If he couldn't find any sort of song within Dalton's music library, he'd just pull something up off of the internet. As he browsed, he noticed a few art students from across the room packing up their supplies. One of them was putting away a portrait painting - a couple holding hands within the candle light. It was super romantic, it was very serene…

And that's when Blaine got an idea for his duet.

* * *

><p>Kurt's hands were shaking when he stepped into Dalton Academy early the next day.<p>

He had spent all evening thinking of songs to sing with Blaine, but none came to mind - well, not any that were too creepy a la the ones he wanted to sing to Finn a year or so ago. So, instead of thinking of a song to sing, Kurt decided to let Blaine take the reigns this time. If the other boy needed any help, Kurt would be quick to offer his suggestions, but as of right now, he had nothing.

So he went into the school empty handed with song ideas, hoping that Blaine at least had some sort of plan.

* * *

><p>Blaine was sweating when he stepped into the dining hall and spotted Kurt sitting at their usual table.<p>

He had spent all night going over the song he had picked for their duet, weighing the pros and cons of the song in his head. He had barely gotten any sleep and probably looked a mess, but he didn't care. Today was the day that he was going to tell Kurt how he felt, no matter how awful he looked.

However, right now was not the time, so before he could be seen, Blaine slipped out of the dining hall and back to the library. He was going to need some more time to build up his courage before he jumped into the lion's den, that's for sure.

* * *

><p>Soon enough, it was the end of the day.<p>

Wes had scheduled Warblers' rehearsal for 5 pm that evening, so Kurt would be around the school somewhere. Deep down in his gut, Blaine knew he would probably be in the one place that he usually frequented during his downtime: the parlor. The parlor was one of those places that had many memories for both boys. It was the first place where Blaine truly got to know Kurt, where he found out the reason behind those sad, expressive eyes. It was the first place that Blaine was able to really study Kurt and find out more about him. But most of all, it was the first place where Blaine could truly say that their friendship began.

And maybe it would be the place where their friendship would sprout into something new.

Sucking in a huge breath, Blaine trudged down the hall as slowly as he could, letting out the breath once he stepped into the open doors of the parlor. There sat Kurt hunched over some sort of box, his fingers deftly working on gluing little rhinestones to the container. He looked so cute, nose starting to scrunch up in concentration as he struggled to keep his hands steady. Blaine smiled to himself and spoke, "What's that?"

It was a stupid question. He knew it was, especially after Kurt stated the obvious - it was Pavarotti's casket. _Duh_. Blaine had to stop himself from smacking his fist to his forehead, so he continued speaking.

"Well finish up. I have the perfect song for our number and we should practice." _That was rude, Blaine. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Think before you speak!_

"Do tell," Kurt inquired as he grinned up at Blaine.

"_Candles_ by Hey Monday."

* * *

><p>Kurt continued smiling, "I'm impressed. You're usually so Top 40." The smile began to falter as soon as Blaine took the seat next to him, explaining that he picked the song because he wanted to do something more emotional. Cautiously, Kurt treaded this information. He felt the butterflies in his stomach go to town once more and he suddenly found himself spouting off the one question he was hoping he wouldn't ask, "Why did you pick me to sing that song with?"<p>

Blaine paused for a moment, giving Kurt just enough time to feel his heart start to deflate. But then Blaine started staring… and he kept on staring and the look behind his eyes made Kurt's stomach churn with anticipation.

_Oh God… he's not… is he?_

"Kurt, there is a moment-" Blaine slowly spoke, eyes closed. He opened them and focused his attention on Kurt once more, hazel eyes sparkling. "-when you say to yourself _'Oh there you are, I've been looking for you forever.'_" He smiled as he continued, placing one of his incredibly warm hands on Kurt's.

"Watching you do _Blackbird_ this week… that was a moment for me, about you…"

_Oh God, are you saying what I think you're saying, Blaine Anderson? I'm not hallucinating this, am I? Oh God, oh God, oh God. _Kurt could feel his throat start to tighten up and he knew his eyes were getting watery. This was the moment he had been waiting for in… well, forever.

* * *

><p>"You move me, Kurt." Blaine had almost said the words <em>'I love you'<em>, but aborted the mission quickly - it was just too risky and way too early, so he switched it up to '_you move me_'.

He genuinely hoped that Kurt didn't notice his lips begin to form the '_I_', but he saw Kurt take in a breath. The boy had jumped a tiny bit from his seat and then settled back, blue eyes sparkling as he stared back at Blaine with this look of want, admiration, and love. Seeing those emotions swirl in Kurt's eyes, Blaine knew he had to continue. Things could only go in his favor now if Kurt's eyes were any indication. "-and this duet would just be an excuse to spend more time with you."

And then Kurt smiled.

It wasn't a large toothy one by any means, but it was just oh so beautiful. Oh so stunning. Oh so _Kurt_ that Blaine couldn't help himself. He leaned forward, watching as Kurt's eyes followed his lips closer and closer to his face, and then he kissed him.

He _kissed _Kurt Hummel.

As soon as their lips met, Blaine felt his body shudder. Never in a million years could he have imagined a kiss to be this amazing, this magnetic, this wonderful, but it was. And that's because it was with Kurt. Soon, Kurt sucked in a deep breath and his hand was on the side of Blaine's face, the cold fingers tucked right under Blaine's earlobe, causing the shorter boy to quiver from the chill. Kurt pulled away for a quick second to take another quick breath and then he slipped right back in there, sucking Blaine's lower lip against his own. The two lip locked for a few seconds longer until Blaine finally pulled away, eyes shining as he stared back at a speechless Kurt. Kurt's hand smacked back down against the table as they separated.

_Oh my God, I just kissed Kurt._

He couldn't help but smirk a little when he saw how shocked Kurt seemed at their kiss and he definitely couldn't help his eyes from flickering back and forth from Kurt's eyes to his mouth.

* * *

><p>Quietly, Kurt gaped, his eyes flicking back and forth around the room as his mind raced to process what had just happened between him and Blaine. His lips were still tingling from where Blaine's mouth had been, pressed tight against him as the two kissed. He struggled to keep his composure because deep down he wanted to scream in excitement and then scream at Blaine for taking so long to figure out his feelings, but he didn't say a word. Instead, he just sat there beaming from ear to ear.<p>

Blaine was smiling, obviously pleased with himself. He leaned against the desk and spoke, "We should- we should practice."

Kurt couldn't help the breathy tones of his voice when he said, "I thought we were" back to Blaine. He was smiling so hard now that he thought his face was going to split and fall off; and he couldn't help but let that smile grow when Blaine practically launched himself out of his chair again, hips rolling, as he crashed his lips against Kurt's once more.

If this is what practice was going to consist of from now on, Kurt hoped it would never, ever end.

* * *

><p><span>AN: TODAY IS VALENTINE'S DAY! SO HAPPY VALENTINE'S TO YOU, MY DEAR READERS! ALSO, DO YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE TODAY IS? **IT'S MY BIRTHDAY**! Yayyyyyy (that was supposed to be sarcastic, by the way, lol.)

Sorry if the chapter is lacking. They'll be more of the aftermath of the kiss in the next chapter, of which I don't know when I'll post that. Sometime soon hopefully. Please review though and thanks for reading! :]


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I also do not own (or am I associated with) the Hobby Lobby. Love the place, don't own it.

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

* * *

><p>Kissing Blaine was the best feeling in the world.<p>

If Kurt really thought about it, this was his first real kiss – well, his _second_ considering he and Blaine had kissed just moments before. The thing with Karofsky didn't count; it just didn't because he didn't _want_ that kiss. But he wanted this one with Blaine more than anything… and he got it.

And it was _amazing_.

Blaine seemed to know what he was doing, even though Kurt knew that Blaine really didn't have any experience with any of this, much like himself. But, damn the things Blaine was doing with his mouth had to be sinful. Currently the other boy had sucked Kurt's lower lip in between his own, gently nipping at it with his teeth. Kurt moaned softly as he pulled back, pressing his mouth onto Blaine's once more, only to feel his upper lip get caught in between Blaine's teeth this time.

_This was heaven, it had to be._

* * *

><p>Sitting here, lips meshed against Kurt's, was probably the most awesome thing Blaine had ever had the pleasure of doing.<p>

The noises Kurt made as Blaine kissed him sent shivers through his body. Kurt's tongue darted out from between his lips and met Blaine's, sliding against each other, all wet heat and amazing. They kissed like that for a few minutes. Blaine groaned as Kurt separated from him with a wet pop. He blinked his eyes open and saw Kurt doing the same – eyes opening slowly as a smile spread across his face.

"Hi," he breathed.

"Hi," Blaine whispered back, slipping back into his chair with a huge grin.

Neither boy spoke as they continued to sit and stare at the other one. Kurt was blushing, his face still lit up in that beautiful smile. Next to him, Blaine ducked his head and felt his cheeks flush.

"That was amazing."

"I agree," Kurt said softly, his tone happy. He reached across the table, placing a hand on top of Blaine's causing the other boy to look up. "Took you long enough."

"Oh God, Kurt. I am so sorry. I am so slow sometimes. I just-"

"Shh," Kurt placed a finger on Blaine's lips and shushed him. He slid his chair closer until both boys' knees touched. "You're worth the wait. So worth it."

Blaine blushed even more and reached up, grabbing Kurt's hands into his own. "I meant it when I said I cared about you, Kurt. I really do. I just wish I would've understood my feelings sooner."

"It doesn't matter. You're here now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"_Shh_, I said." Kurt leaned forward, pressing his mouth to Blaine's once again as the two lazily kissed. They remained like that until Blaine's hand fell onto the table and he bumped the package of press-on jewels, causing the bag to topple over and spill onto the floor.

"Oh my God!"

Kurt burst out laughing, taking in the sight of thousands of tiny jewels on the perfect hardwood floors. "Wow, Blaine. I didn't realize I was that great of a kisser," he joked, still giggling. Blaine playfully shoved him and stood up, grabbing up the now empty bag.

"I'll start cleaning this up."

"No, we'll both clean them up." Kurt dropped to his knees and began scooping up the gems in his hands, dumping them into the bag Blaine held. He smiled when he noticed how the jewels stuck to his hands like a thousand multicolored stars. Blaine watched him as he studied his hands and he got an idea.

Smiling, Blaine grabbed up a handful of gems and shook off the excess into the bag. As Kurt leaned down to grab up more jewels, he made his move, pressing his sparkly fingers to Kurt's cheeks, causing the little gems to stick to his face.

"Blaine!"

"You look so cute!"

Kurt rolled his eyes, inwardly wondering if the adhesive on the jewels were going to mess up his skin, but he couldn't help but laugh a bit, especially at how amused Blaine was. The other boy was beaming as he pressed more jewels to Kurt's face.

"Now you have a beard."

"Well, it's only fair if you have one too," Kurt commented as he pressed his own hands to Blaine's cheeks. He smirked to himself when he leaned back and saw Blaine's glittery face smiling back at him. "There! Now we match."

"Now we match," Blaine parroted, leaning forward to capture Kurt's lips in a kiss. As they met once again, Kurt sighed and brought his hand up to hold Blaine's jaw.

He could get used to this kissing stuff.

* * *

><p>It took the two of them another hour to get everything cleaned up, plus an extra hour to put at least <em>a little<em> bit of practice in on their duet. When Warbler practice finally came about at five, both boys agreed to be quiet about their relationship - instead playing dumb as they rehearsed _Candles_ with their group. Finally, when they thought things were going to be alright with their song, Wes ended practice and Kurt announced he needed to get back to Lima; Blaine waited with him until the majority of the Warblers had left the hall before he walked Kurt to his car, slipping his palm against Kurt's.

As they walked through the hall hand in hand, they met a few curious eyes and a few excited stares.

"_Finally!_" Someone who wasn't in the Warblers shouted as they left the main building. Kurt blushed and Blaine smiled, tightening his grip on Kurt's hand. They walked up to the commuter's lot and Kurt broke away for a second to put his stuff in the back. When he came back to the driver's side, he came face to face with a still grinning Blaine.

"What are we?"

Blaine's smile faltered, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are we boyfriends? I'm just wondering because we never really-"

"Oh my God."

"What?"

"I can't believe I didn't ask you! Oh my God! What was I doing in there? I thought- I thought that- Oh my God!" Blaine brought his hands up to his face, hiding away in mortification. Kurt smiled and tugged Blaine's hands away, ducking down to look at his friend's face.

"Blaine?"

"I can't believe I didn't ask you. I am so stupid."

"You are not. Quit that."

"I just- I should have asked you before I kissed you. Instead I just kissed you and I didn't even ask. Oh my God, I'm such an idiot."

"Well, if you ask me now, I'm sure you'll get a good answer."

Blaine silenced, raising his eyes to look at Kurt. "You mean-"

"I'm waiting…"

Blaine beamed, "Kurt Hummel, will you be my boyfriend?"

"I would love to be, Blaine Anderson." He leaned in and pressed his lips to his _boyfriend_'s, smiling as Blaine wrapped his arms around his waist. He, in turn, wrapped his own around Blaine's neck, pulling the shorter boy closer. "I can't believe we're dating," he breathed out as they separated; he could feel Blaine's lips turn up against his own.

"Me neither."

"Everyone's gonna flip out."

"Tell me about it."

"When do you want to tell them?"

"Whenever you're ready," Blaine cast a look back to the school. "A lot of people already saw us in the hall on the way out. I won't be surprised if I get ambushed on my way back to the dorms."

"So do you want me to make us Facebook official as soon as I get home then?"

"That would be nice."

"Then I'll do that as soon as I get home." Kurt kissed Blaine one last time before he stepped back and opened his car door. "Should I call you when I get there?"

"Yes. I want to make sure you got home safely, so please call me." Blaine leaned into the car as soon as Kurt got settled and buckled in, "Drive safe," he added with a kiss. Kurt nodded and said his goodbyes, closing the door and driving off, leaving a grinning Blaine in his wake. Once the Navigator was out of sight, Blaine did a little celebratory dance back to the residence hall, stepping into the building with a kick in his step.

* * *

><p><strong>Kurt Hummel<strong> is in a relationship with **Blaine Anderson**.

Kurt sat back on his bed, laptop carefully balanced on his thighs. As soon as he got into his house, he raced upstairs, set Pavarotti's casket supplies on his desk, and grabbed up his laptop. He logged into Facebook and changed his relationship status, grinning when Blaine accepted the change and the announcement came up in his newsfeed. Immediately comments came rolling in from all sides, from both the Warblers and New Directions. Still looking at the computer screen, Kurt bit his lip as he excitedly called up Blaine.

"Hi."

"Hi. I take it you're home safe and sound."

"Yes. Sorry I didn't call you before I logged onto Facebook. I just needed to get the news out."

"It's okay. I was waiting by the computer anyway," Blaine said with a laugh. Kurt's stomach flipped at the sound and he inwardly swooned – that laugh was coming out of _his_ boyfriend, emphasis on _his_.

"Oh my God, Mercedes is calling me!"

Blaine chuckled again, "Well I won't care if you take her call. I'm currently being hounded by some creepers outside my bedroom door. I think it may be Jeff and Nick, but one can never be too sure."

"So you don't care if I talk to Mercedes?"

"No, why would I?" Blaine said, jokingly offended. "Tell her I said hello and that I promise to treat you with the utmost respect and that she needs to have no worries. _And_ if she has a problem, she can call me at any time."

"I'll let her know."

"Well then, I shall let you go talk to Miss Mercedes. Send her my love. If we don't talk before tomorrow, have a good night and sweet dreams, Kurt."

"You too, Blaine. You too. Goodnight."

Blaine sighed softly and after Kurt whispered his own goodbye, they hung up. Kurt quickly called Mercedes back, squealing when she jumped him for the details. In Westerville, Blaine opened up his bedroom door to a handful of excited Warblers; and both boys, though two hours away in two very different settings, began gushing about their new boyfriend.

* * *

><p>"Oh my God, Mercedes, I don't know how I'm supposed to sleep tonight!"<p>

"I can't believe you have a boyfriend. I am so jealous right now!"

"Now you know how I felt when you and Puck had that thing last year and-"

"We agreed not to speak about that, Kurt," Mercedes warned jokingly, her voice light with laughter. "Now you hurry your cute little behind to bed or dinner or whatever you're doing. I know you're tired from driving all the way to Westerville, so get some sleep!"

"I'll try."

"You'd better."

"Love you 'Cedes, thanks for the chat."

"Love you too boy. Get some sleep."

Kurt hung up his phone and rolled off of his bed. He couldn't believe the energy rush he had; it was like someone gave him a dozen shots of espresso and set him free – he was wired. Rushing around his room, he removed the rest of his uniform and hopped into the shower, scrubbing himself clean in record time. Later, as he sat at his vanity smoothing various lotions onto his face, he couldn't help but sing love songs under his breath, thinking of Blaine the whole time.

* * *

><p>Blaine waved goodbye as he shut his dorm room door closed.<p>

Seconds after he had gotten off the phone with Kurt, he opened the door and let a few of his closest buddies in; the guys cheering when they set eyes on Blaine's happy demeanor.

"_It's about time, Anderson!"_

"_Too you long enough!"_

"_Oh my God, that's why your duet was super sappy!"_

"_Like any other time they've sang together wasn't sappy!"_

He just laughed at his friends, grinning from ear to ear as they shared his excitement. He told them about his first kiss with Kurt and how amazing it was; he also told them about how he forgot to ask Kurt out in the first place. They roared with laughter then, complimenting Blaine on his ever-so humbling stupidity, before a rap on the door signified that they needed to keep it down a little bit.

Finally, the guys bid Blaine farewell, heading out the door and to their respective rooms, leaving Blaine alone with his thoughts. He shuffled over to his bed and threw himself down on the mattress, grabbing up a pillow and smashing over his face.

It may have been the most girlish thing he had ever done, but he did it anyway – he pressed the pillow to his face and screamed, kicking his feet as he flailed. _This was just too ridiculously exciting for him! He had a boyfriend __– someone actually liked him enough to date him!_ He celebrated a little bit longer and then quieted, rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. Standing up, he cast the pillow to the side as he straightened up and calmed himself down. He then stripped out of his uniform and changed into some pajamas, running a hand through his hair to break up the gel.

Tonight, he was sure his dreams were going to be some of the best he'd ever had… if he could get to sleep, that was. He was wired on love.

* * *

><p><span>AN: Coming up next – Burt finds out that his son is now dating Blaine! Plus, there's more Regionals prep and a bit of a serious talk between the boys (you didn't think I'd allow their little disagreement after _Misery_ go unnoticed, right?)

Please, please, please review if you're still reading this! Inquiring minds (aka me, haha) want to know! :]


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or Ryan Murphy. I am just an out-of-college daydreamer who sometimes gets into these writing funks and ends up tossing out a story after letting the idea sit in my brain for a few days! I am also not associated with Disney or Cinderella. I wish I was, but I'm not. I am just a serious admirer of Disney stuff, that's all.

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

* * *

><p>"<em>So this is love, mmmmm. So this is love<em>."

Kurt sang softly to himself as he prepared breakfast that morning. He had woken up incredibly early, eyes bright and wide with excitement as he realized that it was the first morning _ever_ that he had _not _woken up as a bachelor. Just the fleeting memory of Blaine's lips pressed against his own from the night before unleashed a whole new set of feelings and Kurt just couldn't stay still. So, as soon as he padded into the bathroom and got ready for the day, he rushed downstairs and began cooking, making a breakfast fit for a king.

"Oh yum, something smells delicious in here."

Carole smiled at Kurt when the boy spun on his heel and turned beet red at the sight of her. She had actually been standing in the doorway for a few moments, listening to her stepson sing along to a song from Cinderella. Immediately, her mind went to thoughts of a certain raven haired fellow that Kurt was quite infatuated with – she wondered if this boy had anything to do with her son's chipper mood.

"You seem awful cheery this morning, sweetheart. Any reason why?"

"No, not really," Kurt blushed, turning his concentration back to the strawberries he had been slicing into a bowl. Carole slid up next to him, washing her hands before she took a few berries to chop.

"You sure? Nothing you want to tell good ole Carole?"

"Ummm."

"I'm not going to force it out of you, Kurt; don't worry. However, if you don't want your father to know about you and Blaine, I would suggest not singing love songs in his presence."

Kurt dropped his knife into the bowl, "How did you?"

"Oh!" Carole joked, faking how surprised she was. "I was just assuming! So, is it true then? Are you and Blaine-"

"Are he and Blaine what?"

Both Kurt and Carole flinched, spinning around to face a yawning Burt. The man was still in his pajamas, a robe carelessly thrown over his shoulders. He smacked the morning paper against the table as he glanced around the kitchen. "Well," he muttered, "What's this I hear about Blaine? Did he do something dumb again?"

Kurt gulped, shooting a horrified look to Carole. His stepmother just smiled gently at him and leaned in, whispering reassurances into his ear. "_Just tell him. Your dad doesn't bite. You know that_."

Kurt nodded, waltzing over to take a seat at the table across from his dad. "Dad, umm… there's something I need to tell you."

"Go on."

"Last night, before Warbler practice… umm, Blaine came up to me and told me that he has feelings for me. I've liked him since forever and I couldn't believe what he was saying, but then he kissed me and umm, he also asked me to be his boyfriend and I said yes." It all came out super fast and Kurt found himself blushing all the way to the tips of his ears as he waited for his dad to say something. Behind him, Carole was stifling her squeals of joy behind her palms.

_At least someone seems excited for me, _he thought_._

"So you and Blaine are an item now?"

"Yes."

"Took you long enough."

Kurt's mouth fell open; behind him, Carole burst into a fit of giggles. Burt stared up at his son, giving the boy a smile before he turned his attention back to his paper. "So what's for breakfast?"

"Dad!"

"What? I'm hungry."

"Are you just trying to avoid this conversation or something? Because a few weeks ago, you were fairly adamant on having a pretty _awkward_ conversation with me!"

Burt's eyebrows raised and he set his paper down flat on the table, "Are you telling me that you and Blaine are planning on-"

"Oh God no! No, dad, no! I just… I thought you might want to talk more about this."

"What's there to talk about? We were all waiting for the day when Blaine would pull his head out of his ass and ask you out. _So_ he did that yesterday – it was only a matter of time." Burt smiled at his son's cherry red cheeks; Kurt was freaking out. "I'm happy for you, kiddo. You know I am. But you know, as a father, I'm going to want to have a meeting with Blaine soon, especially since he decided to ask you out after that _talk_ he had with me."

Kurt frowned, "What talk?"

"Perhaps you should ask him. Also, tell him that I'd like him to come over for dinner one night. You know, to properly introduce himself as your boyfriend and to have dinner with us as a family."

Carole nodded from her place at the counter, her fingers still swiftly running the knife through the fruit. "We'd love to have Blaine over for dinner sometime soon. It'll be different having him over as your boyfriend though; I can't deny that I'm excited for it."

Kurt stared at his father long and hard, watching as the man went back to his paper. Inside, his heart was fluttering in warmth at the idea of his father being happy for him. Sliding out of his chair, Kurt took a few quick strides over to his father and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing his old man in a tight hug.

"I love you, dad."

"I love you too, Kurt, and I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy, too."

"Good, I'm glad."

Kurt pulled back and rushed across the room, quickly pulling Carole into a one armed hug before he turned towards the oven.

"So who's in the mood for some breakfast?"

* * *

><p>Blaine grinned as he sat down to a small round of applause. The Warblers he usually sat with were beaming ear to ear at him as they hoot and hollered.<p>

"It's about time!"

"Congrats Anderson! Can't wait until Hummel gets here."

"This is way too exciting!"

Blaine smiled at his friends and started to eat his breakfast, occasionally glancing up to the entrance of the dining hall to see if Kurt had shown up yet. He ate in silence for a few minutes until he heard the guys around him wolf whistle and burst into applause again; flicking his eyes upward, Blaine caught the embarrassed gaze of Kurt as the boy snuck through the crowd of students and towards their table.

"Morning lover boy!"

"Blaine, your _boyfriend_ is here!"

_Boyfriend. His boyfriend._ It was exciting to comprehend.

"Good morning, Kurt," Blaine offered with a smile, standing up to hug his boyfriend. Kurt curled his arms around him and parroted a greeting in return. Both boys pulled away and stared for a moment, each wondering if it was okay for them to give each other a good morning kiss – regrettably, they decided against it, sitting down instead, much to the chagrin of their peers.

"What? No kiss? We're waited this long for a good morning _hug_?"

"Not everything is about PDA," Kurt muttered, glancing back over to Blaine as his boyfriend offered him some breakfast. "No, thank you. Would you like something I made though?" He pulled out a container of something that was very fragrant – Blaine could immediately pick out the cinnamon in it.

"What's that?"

"Bread pudding, breakfast style. Would you like some?"

"You made this?"

"I did," Kurt popped the lid off of the Tupperware container and the aroma swelled throughout the table.

"Oh my God, what is that heavenly smell?" Jeff said, leaning as close as he could to Blaine in order to get a look at what Kurt had. His eyes widened as he took in the mixture of sweet bread and berries. "I don't know what that is, but it looks delicious."

"It's bread pudding," Kurt whispered, warily staring at the rest of the boys who were eyeing Blaine's food. "I made it this morning for my family. I thought I'd bring some of the leftovers."

"I'm surprised there were leftovers," Blaine laughed, "You know, with the way Finn eats."

"True," Kurt scooped a spoonful out and held it to Blaine's lips. "Try it; I think you'll like it. It's got cinnamon in it and I know how much you love cinnamon." Blaine nodded, gesturing to his streaming mug of coffee, which of course, smelled of cinnamon. He leaned forward and graciously took the bite of food held out to him from Kurt; around the table, coos erupted from those watching them.

"Oh my God, you guys, Kurt is feeding him."

"I think I'm going to cry!"

As Blaine chewed, his eyes closed in ecstasy. Kurt's cooking was amazing – it always had been – but this was _outstanding_. "God, Kurt," he practically moaned, blushing when he realized how suggestive he sounded. "This is amazing."

"Thank you."

Blaine shoved his school issued breakfast to the side, allowing the rest of the guys to fight over it. He continued eating the dish Kurt brought, occasionally smiling at his boyfriend and Kurt took his hand, running his fingers over Blaine's knuckles. Neither spoke, but both found it nice to just be able to sit there and enjoy each other's presence as a couple.

_A couple_.

* * *

><p>By mid-afternoon, the rest of the school knew that Blaine and Kurt were dating.<p>

Sure, there were people who really didn't care, but the majority of the students – especially those who loved the Warblers – were ecstatic for their friends/classmates. Kurt couldn't believe his eyes when one of his burlier jock classmates came up to him in Chemistry and told him he was happy for him; if the guy had been anything like the jocks at McKinley, Kurt was sure he would've been hanging upside down in a dumpster right now. But, this guy actually seemed excited for him and that was an entirely new thing for Kurt.

He could only hope, as he walked down the halls to other congratulations, that one day the entire world would be more accepting of things like this.

* * *

><p>Warbler practice was a whole new ballpark. The guys were bouncing in excitement to watch Kurt and Blaine duet together, especially since they knew the two were full-on dating now.<p>

When both boys stood up and walked around the room singing to each other, Wes had to stop the performance several different times to shush a few of the guys (mostly Jeff) from their fake weeping. After about an hour or so of practice, the council deemed things fit to stop and everyone went on their merry old way out of the hall. As they left, Kurt reached over and clutched at Blaine's hand, earning a smile from the shorter boy as they made their way to the parking lot.

Blaine stopped them in front of Kurt's car, fingers curling tighter around his boyfriend's as he pressed a soft kiss to Kurt's lips. Kurt leaned in closer, slightly deepening the kiss. It was their first kiss _all_ day.

"I missed this," Blaine whispered as he pulled away. Kurt nodded against his forehead.

"Me too."

"I would've kissed you earlier, but I chickened out a little. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I felt the same way… it's just _weird_, you know?"

"To be accepted? Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

Kurt leaned back against his car door, pulling Blaine close to him until the other boy was practically pressed against his side. "I just get nervous. I think that's the McKinley side of me coming out. I just don't expect people to understand, to actually leave me – _us_ – alone."

"Me too."

"What are we going to do?"

"We don't have to be like those other couples you see in public school. I mean, I know that there are other gay couples at Dalton other than us, but they don't flaunt it. We don't have to either, if that's what you want. We can still be affectionate, just not to the point that it gets annoying."

Kurt agreed, "That's what I was thinking."

"So it's settled then?"

"Yes," Kurt leaned back in and stole a kiss, smiling against Blaine's lips when he felt his boyfriend's hands rest on his waist. The two continued to lazily kiss for several minutes until Kurt felt his phone vibrate against his hip. He slid away from Blaine, smirking at the dazed look on his face. "Someone's calling me."

"Okay," Blaine whispered breathlessly, erupting a giggle from Kurt. "…what?"

"I didn't know I was that great of a kisser."

"You are," Blaine breathed, still taking in air.

Kurt laughed some more as he answered his phone, "Hello?" He rolled his eyes for a moment and kept on talking; Blaine watched him carefully. After a minute or two, Kurt disconnected the call, turning to Blaine with a slight frown. "It was dad. He was wondering where I was at."

"Oh."

"I should probably be going."

"Yeah, you should. It's gonna get really dark out soon and I'd rather you be home before nightfall."

"So worried," Kurt grinned, kissing Blaine softly. Blaine nodded against him as he pulled away. "I like that about you, Blaine. You're always so thoughtful."

"Not really. I'm actually pretty stupid sometimes."

"Aren't we all?"

Blaine pursed his lips, "I suppose so." He took Kurt's hand in his and tugged the taller boy closer to him before he swung around and opened Kurt's car door. "You should head on home. I don't want to make your dad angry with me for keeping you too long."

"He won't care."

"But I will. I don't want to get on your dad's bad side too early."

Hearing Blaine talk about his dad sparked a memory in Kurt's mind, a particular one about Blaine giving his dad some sort of talk. Kurt looked at his boyfriend for a moment, taking in the boy's large earnest eyes and the way he kept on biting his lip. "I have a question for you."

"Okay?"

"Dad said that you came and had a talk with him. Care to tell me what that was all about?"

Blaine blanched, "Oh my God."

"We don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to, but I'm gonna have to warn you that it's gotta come up before you come over for dinner with the family."

"Your family wants me over for dinner?"

Kurt wasn't sure if it was possible for Blaine to pale even more, but he did. "They just want to meet you properly as my _boyfriend_. You know: all that jazz. I told dad and Carole about us this morning and they both agreed that they'd like to see you over for dinner… if that's okay with you, I mean."

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine." Blaine started to tug at his collar and tie. Kurt could see the small bit of sweat forming on his boyfriend's brow, so he quickly helped loosen Blaine's tie for him.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Uh… about that talk?"

"Yes?"

"Can we, ummm, talk about it later… like tomorrow? I don't know if having this conversation now would be a good idea or not."

"Sure. Like tomorrow after practice?"

"Yeah, if your dad doesn't mind you staying after school a little while longer. I could always follow you back home if that's the case and then drive back later."

"No, Blaine, no. I'll ask him and get back to you later on, okay? I'm sure he won't care though. We can talk more about this tomorrow."

"Okay, okay. Good." Blaine kissed Kurt quickly, stepping back as Kurt climbed into his car. "Call me when you get home?"

"I will."

"Drive safe. Don't do anything stupid."

"You act as if you don't know me," Kurt scoffed, affronted. Blaine smiled at him. "I'll call when I get home. Now go tell those creepers spying on us in the windows to get a life." Kurt pointed towards across the parking lot and Blaine turned; both of them rolling their eyes as a couple of heads dodged away from the windows.

"I'll tell them." Blaine kissed Kurt one last time before he bid Kurt good night and closed the car door. He waited patiently until Kurt drove out of his sight and as soon as the Navigator was well off down the road, he slammed his palms against his cheeks. It was time to go into freak-out mode.

Because tomorrow afternoon he was going to have to fess up to Kurt that _he _was the main reason Kurt got an awkward sex talk from his father.

* * *

><p><span>AN: Sorry for the wait. Life just gets in the way sometimes, yeah? Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. Also, next chapter, we may see a little bit from Blaine's past. Finally, right? :]

Oh, and I'm gonna pimp out one of my other stories – it's an Anderson brothers based fic called THE CHAPERONE. Read it if you want and review too if you'd like. Thanks!

Any questions regarding this or any of my other stories? Feel free to contact me via my tumblr listed on my user profile!


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it, the cast and crew, or RIB and the other writers.

**Give Me Strength**

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Pairing: Kurt x Blaine

**TRIGGER WARNING: Contains the discussion of slight sexual situations in which consent was not exactly received (dub-con?), as well as mentions being drugged thus leading to such situation. If you know the proper way to label this TW please inform me as I am very confused over which labels to use. Thank you.

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><p>Warbler practice had ended. Everyone was headed back to their dorms or to their cars for a few hours of rest before dinner time; everyone except for Blaine and Kurt, who just so happened to be navigating the halls to Blaine's room for an evening of intense conversation.<p>

Well, intense for Blaine. Not so much for Kurt.

Blaine knew this conversation was going to come up sooner or later. The sex talk he had initiated with Burt wasn't going to stay hidden forever and to be honest, he was a little bit surprised it had been in the dark for so long. Frowning due to his thoughts, Blaine unlocked his dorm room door and stepped inside, Kurt following close behind; their fingers still laced together.

"Would you like something to drink? I'm a bit thirsty from all that singing."

Kurt shed his blazer and tie, unbuttoning a few of his buttons as he went. He rolled his sleeves up as he took a seat on Blaine's bed, "Sure. I would love water if you have any."

Blaine swiped two bottles of water from his mini-fridge and held one out to Kurt, gulping slightly as he took in how sexy his boyfriend actually looked with his blazer off and shirt unbuttoned. "I'm so sorry," he croaked, earning raised eyebrows from Kurt.

"Sorry for what?"

"For saying your sexy faces looked like gas pains. God, I was so wrong."

Kurt's brows furrowed, "What brought this on?"

"Everything. You. This. Just all of it. You're gorgeous, Kurt. You don't need to do anything to be sexy. I just- I just thought you should know that," Blaine stepped away from the bed, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "Sorry if I overstepped my boundaries." He knew he had to have flustered Kurt a little bit because his boyfriend was flushed pink, fingers awkwardly playing with his water bottle.

"No, no. It's fine. I'm just… shocked? No one's ever really said something like that to me before. Well, a guy, I mean."

Blaine bit his lip, "You're gorgeous. Just stunning. I've always thought you were handsome; I'm just sorry I didn't say it sooner."

"Thank you," Kurt whispered. He continued toying with his water, "You're very handsome yourself, Blaine. I was smitten the minute I saw you."

"Smitten?" The shorter boy teased, a smile spreading across his face.

"Shut up, I'm trying to be sappy here!" Kurt laughed, casting aside his water bottle in favor of a pillow that he quickly tossed at Blaine's head. Both boys shook with laughter when the pillow smacked Blaine straight on in the face. As soon as they both calmed, Blaine removed his own blazer and tie, sliding off his shoes and kicking them under the bed.

"I really don't want to do this."

"Do what? Talk?" He frowned when Blaine nodded in response, "…why?"

"You're gonna hate my guts after this."

Hearing that caused Kurt's insides to freeze up. He wasn't sure what exactly what Blaine was talking about, but it didn't sound fun or very good to him. He kicked his own forgotten shoes off and then tugged himself up higher on the bed, sitting Indian style as he watched Blaine pace the length of the room. "Is it gonna be bad?"

"Maybe? Maybe not? I don't know yet."

"Well, then perhaps you should start soon. I think I'm going to have an anxiety attack from all the bad things that are trying to run through my head."

Blaine nodded, tucking his arms behind his back as he paced, "Okay well, I'll start off with this… you weren't my first kiss."

"So Rachel wa-"

"Rachel wasn't my first kiss either."

* * *

><p><em>Blaine was sure the one thing he hated most than being ignored by his parents was being paraded around by them like he was their greatest joy whenever they needed him.<em>

_After he came out, things were rough in the Anderson household._

_His parents barely spoke to him. His mother would say a few things to him whenever his father wasn't around, but as soon as William Anderson set foot in their presence, Blaine was to be seen and not heard. However, when there were important business dinners and such to attend, Blaine was supposed to be the perfect son, the perfect false image of himself. Usually, if his older brother Cooper was around, Blaine was free from dealing with such fake love; this time though, with Cooper off in Los Angeles trying to make a name for himself, Blaine was stuck driving with his parents to Nashville, Tennessee for some sort of conference his dad had to attend for work._

"_You keep to yourself, Blaine Christopher. I don't want to hear anything from my co-workers about your predicament, you understand me?"_

"_You mean about the fact that I'm gay, dad?" Blaine muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he slumped in the backseat._

"_Don't you dare start with me, Blaine," his father hissed as his fingers clutched the steering wheel. His mother leaned over and placed a calming hand on her husband's, "Don't overwork yourself, William. We still have to check into the hotel and meet the Rowes at the mixer."_

_Blaine watched his father roll his eyes and soon decided to close his own eyes until they got to the hotel. Hours later, he was roughly shaken awake and practically dragged from the car into the large resort; his mother and father flanking him as they checked in._

"_Tonight, you're going to smile and be polite and I'd better not see you look at one boy__ at dinner or else," his father warned as Blaine fixed his bowtie and double checked himself in the mirror. "You hear me, Blaine?"_

"_Yes, sir," Blaine muttered quietly, stepping away from the mirror to take a seat on the bed. He ha__ted being paraded around at these stupid parties more than anything in the world and most of all, he hated how fake his parents were in front of company._

"_This is our son, Blaine. He's growing up to be such a handsome young gentleman," Maria preened, one hand on Blaine's elbow as she took him from person to person. Occasionally, she would introduce him to a girl or two; his father introduced him to more than a couple. By the end of the night, Blaine had a handful of phone numbers from different girls._

_He tossed them in the trash on the way back to his room._

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><p>"I don't understand."<p>

"I haven't gotten to it yet."

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><p><em>If Blaine would've had his way, he would've spent the rest of the weekend locked away in his hotel room with his books and his iPod, doing what he did best: ignoring the world.<em>

_Instead, he fought with his father and found himself being forced to go downstairs and spend time at the teen mixer – some stupid thing the hotel had for any visiting business party's teenage children. Blaine was forced to dress up and look cute (in order to impress the girls, his father had insisted) and was sent downstairs to the ballrooms to mingle with people he'd probably never see again._

_It was a night that Blaine would never forget._

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><p>"You met someone at this mixer? That's not that bad, I mean-"<p>

"It's not that simple, Kurt. It's… really complicated."

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><p><em>The night was going off in the worst way.<em>

_Girls flocked to Blaine, completely enamored by his dark, curly hair and large hazel eyes. He was growing into his body rather well according to his mother and it seemed to be something that plenty of these unknown, random girls enjoyed very much. All evening, Blaine batted away handsy girls, shrugging off their persistent touches and overly flirty gestures. By the end of the first hour, he was exhausted from the fight and found himself leaning against the snack table, eyes darting around the room as he sipped on a cup of punch._

"_You hiding out here too?" A voice spoke up behind him. Blaine jumped, the years of being bullied making him super tense when it came to registering random noises. He turned around and blushed when he caught the eye of a tall, muscular guy; the boy was leaning on the opposite side of the table, seemingly pouring his own cup of punch as he watched Blaine with dark brown, almost black eyes._

"_Yeah," Blaine gulped, cursing his voice for cracking around such an attractive guy. "Some of these girls don't know how to leave it alone."_

"_I know that feeling," the guy said, sipping his punch. He pulled the cup away from his thin lips and raised an eyebrow at Blaine. "Are you gay?"_

_Blaine blanched; he had no idea that he was giving any indication that he liked boys – his dad was going to kill him, "Umm no. Why?"_

"_Oh, well then, that's a shame."_

"_It is?"_

"_Yep, I was hoping you played for my team."_

_And with those words, Blaine's heart almost shot out of his chest. He clutched his cup with shaky fingers, eyes wandering down to the punch bowl before he decided to return his new acquaintance's gaze. "I lied."_

"_Oh really?"_

"_I- I am gay. I just- nobody around here knows."_

"_Well, I do."_

"_Yeah, now you do. No one else can though. Please don't tell anyone!"_

_The guy laughed, "It's not my place to out anyone." He stirred the punch a bit more and __looked back up to smirk at Blaine, "Care for more punch? How about I refill ya and we go somewhere quiet to talk?"_

_Blaine nodded shakily, handing his cup over to the boy as he directed his gaze back to the dance floor, silently praying that no one else in the room had heard him admit his sexuality._

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><p>"You gave that guy your cup and you didn't watch him refill it?"<p>

"It was a stupid mistake."

Kurt frowned, his gaze on the floor as he gnawed on his lip. "You don't remember your first kiss very well, do you?"

"I- I… like I said before, it's complicated."

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><p><em>Blaine didn't remember how many glasses of punch he had throughout the evening, but what he did remember was being pressed down against the couch, two large hands tight on his hips as someone pressed their lips up against his jawline and moaned against his Adam's apple.<em>

"_Please-"_

"_Shh, let me take care of you."_

"_I- I don't even know your name," he whimpered, feeling the unknown guy's hands curl tighter on his hipbones. A gasp slipped from his lips when he felt the person on top of him grind his hips down; the guy was obviously turned on. "Please-"_

"_Call me Vince. Now shush, we don't want anyone hearing us, now do we?"_

"_No, but-"_

"_Do you want your secret to get out?" Another kiss on the neck. "No? …didn't think so."_

_Blaine closed his eyes. Everything was spinning behind his closed eyelids even though it was dark. He could hear the bass booming on the other side of the wall; the sounds of laughing, happy teenagers just a few feet away from him as this stranger placed hot, wet kisses on his collarbones. He couldn't figure out how this happened or why it was happening – one minute, he was sipping his punch, the next he was lying back on the couch with this guy laying on top of him. It all just happened so fast._

_And then Vince kissed him._

_It was sloppy and rough, the guy's lips chapped and still slick with saliva from the slobbery, open-mouthed kisses he had been leaving on Blaine's neck. Blaine whined as Vince tried to slip his tongue in his mouth._

"_Stop."_

"_Oh, but why? We're having so much fun."_

"_I can't do this. I've never-"_

"_You're a virgin then?"_

_Blaine nodded, weakly pushing the persistent boy's shoulders as he struggled to roll out from where he was pinned, "I've never- I- that was my first kiss." And it was awful and nothing like it had been in the movies. Just the leftover taste of Vince's mouth on his own made Blaine want to throw up on himself. He choked back a gag and blinked, praying that the tightness building behind his eyes wouldn't spill out._

_The guy smirked, leaning in closer as he pressed another kiss to Blaine's mouth, "Well, I'm honored you let me be your first."_

"_What? No, I don't-"_

_He was silenced by lips against his own and he squirmed, whimpering when his abdomen brushed up against what felt like an __erection. Vince moaned, the vibrations of his loud vocals tickling Blaine's lips and jaw in the most horrible way possible. "Stop," he pleaded softly, his head throbbing from the too loud music and overstimulation his body was receiving. He yanked his head away from Vince's, everything in his sight swimming as he struggled to keep consciousness. He blinked slowly, groaning when he heard the guy's voice grow tight and sharp._

"_Fuck," Vince gasped out and then he fell limp against Blaine's exhausted body. Blaine could feel every single bit of his weight on him and he cried out, shov__ing the spent figure off of him as he also rolled to the floor._

_This random creep had just gotten off on top of him… and he didn't want it at all._

_It wasn't supposed to go this way._

_He threw up on the floor._

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><p>"Oh my God, Blaine-"<p>

"I didn't want any of that, you have to believe me. I just- he slipped something into my drink when I wasn't looking and I was so disoriented the entire night. By- by the time he was done, I was so sick from what he gave me that I just kept on throwing up. He ended up carrying me back to my room and left me outside the door."

"Did he- did he do anything else?"

"Luckily no. He just dropped me there and left. I got up, let myself into the room, and climbed into bed." Blaine paused to wipe some tears from his eyes before he went back to pacing again, "By the time my parents came back, I was out like a light and my dad attributed it to having too much fun at the party."

"So they had no idea that you-"

"No. I've never told them either. It's better that way, you know?"

"But Blaine, that guy slipped you something! He tried to take advantage of you! He _did_ take advantage of you!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Blaine erupted, throwing his hands into the air. "I went from only remembering bits and pieces of the night to remembering quite a lot. I was so disgusted with myself that I shut down for the rest of the trip… and then- and then something happened on my last night there."

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><p><em>Blaine laid on the bed, a place he had been occupying for days now, ever since that strange night at the ballrooms.<em>

_Other than attending the mandatory meals his parents made him go to, he didn't do much else. He just laid on his bed and stared at the wall, horrified that he had gotten his first kiss in such an awful way. His parents went on their merry old way, schmoozing and what not with his dad's business partners. It wasn't until later that evening when his mom slipped into the room with a card that Blaine felt his world slip out from under him for a moment._

"_One of the girls downstairs said to give this to you. Said she had a great time the other night," his mom said with a grin, handing him the card before she slipped back out of the room._

_Blaine held the envelope in his hands, eyes cautiously studying the writing on the outside. It was pretty and loopy, possibly a girl's like his mom said. He slid his finger under the seal and pried it open, gasping when a $100 bill slipped out of the card._

"…_What?"_

_He almost threw up on himself when he opened the card and saw that it read: _

|Had a wonderful time the other night.  
>|Shame I couldn't see you before we left.<br>|Too bad, right?  
>|Oh well, I felt bad about taking your first kiss, so I thought I'd reimburse you.<br>|Buy yourself something nice.

|xoxo V

_He tossed the card aside like it had been fire that burnt him. Tears welled in his eyes as the words inside it replayed over and over again in his memory. He felt like a prostitute, having been given payment for services rendered. Just the thought ripped him in half and he burst into loud sobs, large, hot tears streaming down his cheeks as he cried. He cried for his failure of a first kiss, the hurt he felt from being used, and the shame he held from all the shit that had just happened to him. He also cried because he knew no one would give to shits about him if he told – he was just that gay kid or that shy, quiet, possibly straight Anderson boy who charmed the pants off of everyone._

_And it hurt._

_Still crying, Blaine climbed off of the bed and ran across the room to the mirror, tearing off the envelope left behind by housekeeping and slipping the $100 inside of it. He didn't want it; it was tainted money, so he hoped that the nice lady who had been by cleaning their hotel room could do something with it._

_As soon as he tucked the money away, he ran into the bathroom and took a scorching shower, allowing his tears to mix in with the scalding water as he sobbed and sobbed._

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><p>"Oh God."<p>

Blaine leaned up against the wall, not once daring to turn around and see his boyfriend's facial expression after what he told him. Curling his arms around himself, he took in a deep breath and sighed.

"It's in the past. I've gotten over it, so I'm fine-"

"But-"

"I'm fine, Kurt. I promise." He turned around and found himself staring into watery blue eyes. Kurt was looking at him like he was anything but fine. "Kurt, please."

Kurt slid off of the bed and walked across the room towards him, opening his arms as he curled his body around Blaine's, "I'm glad you told me this. I'm so, so sorry that you had to endure that."

"I'm sorry you had to endure what happened with Karofsky." He flinched when he felt Kurt freeze up against him, but it was only temporary as Kurt pulled back and held his shoulders as he stared down at him.

"We have the worst luck, don't we?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it luck," Blaine chuckled softly, leaning forward to press his lips to Kurt's. Kurt kissed him back gently and then pulled away, leaning his forehead against Blaine's.

"If it matters, our kiss was my first real kiss that counted. I don't count the other ones."

"Me neither. You're my first kiss as well."

Kurt smiled and rubbed Blaine's shoulders. "Good. We were each other's first kisses that counted. I'm glad."

"Me too."

Both boys stood in silence, each just taking the opportunity to enjoy the other's presence. After things finally felt composed and right, Blaine took Kurt's elbows in his hands and looked up into his boyfriend's eyes. "The reason I told you that story about what happened to me is because I was the one who told your dad to have that sex talk with you."

"…you did?"

Blaine inwardly sighed in relief when he realized that Kurt didn't sound mad at him at all, "Yeah. You had just kicked me out after I tried to talk to you about sex and I was scared. I was terrified that something like what happened to me would happen to you if no one was able to get through to you in time and god, you have to believe me when I say that I'm sorry I overstepped my boundaries and went to your dad because I had no right and-"

"Blaine-"

"-you should've been the one to go to him, not me. I completely betrayed your trust and god, why are you even dating me? I'm awful. I just-"

"Blaine!"

"I- what?"

"I'm not mad at you. God, I can't even imagine how scared you must've been talking to my dad like that. But I'm glad you did. I'm definitely not comfortable with- uh… you know, but I know a lot more about it now than I did a few weeks ago and I'm sorry that my ignorance scared you so much. I-"

"Don't apologize. Please Kurt, just don't. It wasn't your fault at all that I thought about that night. I just didn't want you to have a similar experience, that's all. I just wanted you to have it easier than I did. I went from not knowing much about sex," he watched Kurt cringe a bit, "too needing to know more to protect myself. First I thought I was going to be so disgusted that I would never think of kissing anyone ever again, but then I realized that I needed to educate myself. I needed to understand things better to maybe protect myself from any future incidents. I looked up sexual stuff, I looked up different party drugs, and I even looked up ways to protect yourself at parties. I just _needed_ to know this stuff, you know? Because I was scared it would happen again."

"Oh Blaine-"

"And that's why I went to your dad. Because I knew he would talk to you and get through to you. I had to find out all of my information on my own. My parents have never talked to me about anything; I had to find out the basics from the internet and sex education classes at my old school. Dalton doesn't provide sex ed. And I don't know if McKinley does or ever did, but I just needed to discuss it with your dad for your sake. I was only looking out for you, I promise. No ulterior motives or anything." He twiddled his thumbs, looking up into Kurt's eyes for reassurance. He was met with a kiss instead.

"I understand. Thank you, Blaine."

"I- you're welcome, I guess. Thank you for listening."

Kurt smiled, tugging Blaine closer to his body. He held the smaller boy flush against him and began to hum, smiling when he felt Blaine relax against him. "We have a few hours until I'm supposed to go home. Do you want to watch a movie or work on homework or something?"

"Can we watch a movie? I'm too exhausted for homework."

Kurt nodded and pulled away, picking a movie from Blaine's collection and settling down on the bed. Blaine settled next to him, their bodies close as the relished in each other's company – Kurt happy that his boyfriend was able to release another tidbit about his past to him and Blaine happy that Kurt was not mad at him for the sex talk he had with Burt.

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><p><span>AN: Long author's note ahead!

The entire party situation was something that had been swimming around in my head for quite a while. I know there are other people out there who have had similar headcanons, so this definitely isn't anything unique or special, but it is _my_ take on the reason why I think Blaine went to Burt with that story about Kurt possibly getting drunk at a party and getting into trouble. I also threw in the money thing because the entire time I was writing this, my mind was screaming at me about that time Blaine went psycho on Sam before Sectionals and said, "I'm not for sale!" My headcanon ended up being that Blaine dealt with this incident with that Vince guy, felt awful afterwards, and after Sam came back and tried to make everything sexual, it just brought back all those awful feelings he had (especially since he and Kurt had just started having sex by that episode).

Now, I don't think I could ever explain why Blaine decided that the Warblers needed to be sexified in that Sexy episode, but was angry about Sam's suggestions - but a part of me does think Finn's approval of Sam's ideas sent Blaine off of the deep end as well and that's why he flipped. So yeah… that's just what I think.

Anyways, so Blaine got his first kiss thanks to some asshole (I'm gonna go ahead and say that this happened before his sophomore year, before Sadie Hawkins – because I am a firm believer that Kurt and Blaine are actually supposed to be in the same grade, but Blaine got held back because of his SH injuries) and later on in the show, the car incident at Scandals happens and Blaine is absolutely mortified over the way he acted and he can't help but beat himself to death over it (thinking about maybe writing a story for that… hmm) and la di da. So there you have it, my headcanon for a part of Blaine's life.

Stay tuned for the next chapter. Regionals is coming up, as well as that freaking forgotten convo about Kurt's jealousy during Misery that I somehow keep forgetting to write about. Sorry for the long A/N and please review! :]


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